Kelp Bay between Catherine and Baranof Islands
At 5:50 AM we received our first wake up call for this trip, made from the bow of the Sea Lion. Three pairs of Humpback whales had been spotted in Kelp Bay. These cow/calf pairs were leisurely enjoying a morning of feeding. It was a perfect day, of warm temperatures, and mostly clear skies, perfect for spotting and observing marine mammals! The Sea Lion approached slowly as the whales continued to move through the bay, enjoying the nutrient rich waters of Southeast Alaska. The Humpback whales return to Southeast Alaska each summer to feeding grounds and enjoy a varied diet of euphausiids and various species of small schooling fish, including herring, capelin, sand lance and mackerel.
Cameras, binoculars and large cups of various warm drinks were brought to the bow for our first marine mammal sighting in glorious morning light. Our natural history staff made explanations on the life history and behavioral characteristics of these large rorquals or baleen whales. At our close range it was easy to see the distinguishing feature of long pectoral flippers measuring approximately one-third the size of the animal. The head and jaws have numerous knobs called tubercles, another characteristic of this species of whale. Like all rorqual whales, the Humpback has a highly defined set of ventral pleats running back from the tip of the lower jaw to the umbilicus. The underside of the tail or fluke in the Humpback whale has a series of patterns often referred to as a fingerprint, and these are used through photo identification to keep a catalog that tracks the migratory paths these animals follow between their mating and feeding grounds. The whales we were watching this early morning, are part of the North Pacific population, and will return in the winter months to mating grounds in Hawaii, two locations in Mexico and Japan.
Our morning observations narrowed to one particular cow/calf pair as the Sea Lion maneuvered in and around Kelp Bay. Just off our port bow these two whales began to breach over and over and over!!! It was not even 7:00 AM, and whales were breaching repeatedly in long, slow, graceful leaps, the sound echoing through the bay!
Realizing the expenditure of energy that had been put out, we adjourned to breakfast, to take in the needed sustenance for the rest of the day’s activities.The remainder of the morning was spent watching Brown bears on the beach, three in total and catching glimpses of the many different bird species that call Southeast Alaska their summer home!
The Sea Lion slowly made her way into an arm of Kelp bay towards our afternoon anchorage of Pond Island. We would be spending the afternoon hiking in old growth forest. Zodiacs were dropped along with our fleet of kayaks and preparations were made for us to go ashore for some hiking followed by kayaking. Our partly cloudy day had changed to a light summer rain. The clouds dropped so low that it was as if we were passing through the clouds themselves. As our Zodiacs left the Sea Lion and traveled to shore, we could see through the mist small, round cupcake shaped islands decorating the inlet that led to Pond Island.
Once kayakers were organized and had paddled off to enjoy this unique environment quietly by water, the hikers prepared for their adventure. We gathered into three groups and slowly made our way under the canopy of the forest, out of the soft summer mist, and into the quiet carpeted cathedral called an old-growth temperate rain forest. Everything wore an overcoat of moss and lichen. The upper story of the forest protected us completely from the light summer rains. We made our way in and out of the forest on our way towards a beaver dam and eventually a large pond with a beaver lodge just off of the shore. On the way our naturalists revealed the secret intertwined lives of trees, animals, fungi, flower and shrubs, leading us eventually to the indigenous peoples who populated these shores making a living from the rich and varied northwest coast. From Washington State through British Columbia and north to Southeast Alaska the native peoples who populated this coast used a myriad of tools to harvest the rich bounty provided by the waters and land of this coastline. And with the free time afforded a people who have plenty of food, an art form called form line design was born. As we walked through the forest, and saw the shapes of twisted trees, hummocks created by fallen trees and accumulated detritus, and the reflections on the surface of beaver ponds, we were able to sense the origin of the creation myths that have been told and retold for thousands of years by the people of the Northwest coast…all tied deeply to this unusual environment and mirrored back to us on this afternoon of gray on gray with shades of dark green.
At 5:50 AM we received our first wake up call for this trip, made from the bow of the Sea Lion. Three pairs of Humpback whales had been spotted in Kelp Bay. These cow/calf pairs were leisurely enjoying a morning of feeding. It was a perfect day, of warm temperatures, and mostly clear skies, perfect for spotting and observing marine mammals! The Sea Lion approached slowly as the whales continued to move through the bay, enjoying the nutrient rich waters of Southeast Alaska. The Humpback whales return to Southeast Alaska each summer to feeding grounds and enjoy a varied diet of euphausiids and various species of small schooling fish, including herring, capelin, sand lance and mackerel.
Cameras, binoculars and large cups of various warm drinks were brought to the bow for our first marine mammal sighting in glorious morning light. Our natural history staff made explanations on the life history and behavioral characteristics of these large rorquals or baleen whales. At our close range it was easy to see the distinguishing feature of long pectoral flippers measuring approximately one-third the size of the animal. The head and jaws have numerous knobs called tubercles, another characteristic of this species of whale. Like all rorqual whales, the Humpback has a highly defined set of ventral pleats running back from the tip of the lower jaw to the umbilicus. The underside of the tail or fluke in the Humpback whale has a series of patterns often referred to as a fingerprint, and these are used through photo identification to keep a catalog that tracks the migratory paths these animals follow between their mating and feeding grounds. The whales we were watching this early morning, are part of the North Pacific population, and will return in the winter months to mating grounds in Hawaii, two locations in Mexico and Japan.
Our morning observations narrowed to one particular cow/calf pair as the Sea Lion maneuvered in and around Kelp Bay. Just off our port bow these two whales began to breach over and over and over!!! It was not even 7:00 AM, and whales were breaching repeatedly in long, slow, graceful leaps, the sound echoing through the bay!
Realizing the expenditure of energy that had been put out, we adjourned to breakfast, to take in the needed sustenance for the rest of the day’s activities.The remainder of the morning was spent watching Brown bears on the beach, three in total and catching glimpses of the many different bird species that call Southeast Alaska their summer home!
The Sea Lion slowly made her way into an arm of Kelp bay towards our afternoon anchorage of Pond Island. We would be spending the afternoon hiking in old growth forest. Zodiacs were dropped along with our fleet of kayaks and preparations were made for us to go ashore for some hiking followed by kayaking. Our partly cloudy day had changed to a light summer rain. The clouds dropped so low that it was as if we were passing through the clouds themselves. As our Zodiacs left the Sea Lion and traveled to shore, we could see through the mist small, round cupcake shaped islands decorating the inlet that led to Pond Island.
Once kayakers were organized and had paddled off to enjoy this unique environment quietly by water, the hikers prepared for their adventure. We gathered into three groups and slowly made our way under the canopy of the forest, out of the soft summer mist, and into the quiet carpeted cathedral called an old-growth temperate rain forest. Everything wore an overcoat of moss and lichen. The upper story of the forest protected us completely from the light summer rains. We made our way in and out of the forest on our way towards a beaver dam and eventually a large pond with a beaver lodge just off of the shore. On the way our naturalists revealed the secret intertwined lives of trees, animals, fungi, flower and shrubs, leading us eventually to the indigenous peoples who populated these shores making a living from the rich and varied northwest coast. From Washington State through British Columbia and north to Southeast Alaska the native peoples who populated this coast used a myriad of tools to harvest the rich bounty provided by the waters and land of this coastline. And with the free time afforded a people who have plenty of food, an art form called form line design was born. As we walked through the forest, and saw the shapes of twisted trees, hummocks created by fallen trees and accumulated detritus, and the reflections on the surface of beaver ponds, we were able to sense the origin of the creation myths that have been told and retold for thousands of years by the people of the Northwest coast…all tied deeply to this unusual environment and mirrored back to us on this afternoon of gray on gray with shades of dark green.
