Yasha Island & Lake Eva
After an energetic evening of hiking and kayaking at Williams Cove yesterday, we gave our rubber boots a rest and spent all morning on the deck of the Sea Lion. We cruised westerly in Frederick Sound, slowing our engines to observe impressive fluking of humpback whales and a colony of northern Steller sea lions on Yasha Island. When we continued northward into Chatham Strait, we retired from our vantage point on deck and gathered together in the forward lounge for educational presentations on humpback whales and terrestrial mammals of the region.
Early in the afternoon, the Sea Lion anchored at Lake Eva. Many of us donned our well-rested rubber boots and headed to shore for hiking and kayaking excursions. Long hikers ventured far enough into the forest to view old growth trees measuring at least 6 feet in diameter. Liverworts lined the trail along with wild orchids, devil’s club, false hellebore, and giant skunk cabbages. As long hikers neared the trailhead on their way out of the forest, they encountered another group of Lindblad hikers standing motionless on the trail, overlooking a salmon spawning stream. The body language and attentiveness of these hikers signaled that something exciting lurked nearby. Sure enough, all eyes, binoculars, and cameras focused in on Lake Eva’s local fisherman: the brown bear. He stood knee-deep in the water and retrieved three salmon to slake his hunger as we watched. Chum, sockeye, and humpies (three species of salmon) become a main staple in the diets of brown bears living in the forest at this time of year.
Upon returning to the Sea Lion, everyone changed out of muddy rubber boots and gathered again in the forward lounge, because two researchers from the Alaska Whale Foundation had jumped on board by invitation and gave a presentation on their work with humpbacks in Southeast Alaska. Dr. Fred Sharpe and his assistant, Peggy, treated us to a video about the Critter Cam, an underwater camera attached to the backs of humpback whales and used by researchers studying the cooperative behavior known as bubble-net feeding. We watched, listened, and asked ourselves questions about how and why a group of unrelated mammals might engage in cooperative feeding behavior.
As the day closes with a pastel pink, blue, and purple sunset, I recall a comment I heard on the trail: “This is just idyllic. If I had to paint a perfect picture of nature, everything we saw today would be in it.” Here in Southeast Alaska we are fortunate enough to be surrounded by an environment rich with life.
After an energetic evening of hiking and kayaking at Williams Cove yesterday, we gave our rubber boots a rest and spent all morning on the deck of the Sea Lion. We cruised westerly in Frederick Sound, slowing our engines to observe impressive fluking of humpback whales and a colony of northern Steller sea lions on Yasha Island. When we continued northward into Chatham Strait, we retired from our vantage point on deck and gathered together in the forward lounge for educational presentations on humpback whales and terrestrial mammals of the region.
Early in the afternoon, the Sea Lion anchored at Lake Eva. Many of us donned our well-rested rubber boots and headed to shore for hiking and kayaking excursions. Long hikers ventured far enough into the forest to view old growth trees measuring at least 6 feet in diameter. Liverworts lined the trail along with wild orchids, devil’s club, false hellebore, and giant skunk cabbages. As long hikers neared the trailhead on their way out of the forest, they encountered another group of Lindblad hikers standing motionless on the trail, overlooking a salmon spawning stream. The body language and attentiveness of these hikers signaled that something exciting lurked nearby. Sure enough, all eyes, binoculars, and cameras focused in on Lake Eva’s local fisherman: the brown bear. He stood knee-deep in the water and retrieved three salmon to slake his hunger as we watched. Chum, sockeye, and humpies (three species of salmon) become a main staple in the diets of brown bears living in the forest at this time of year.
Upon returning to the Sea Lion, everyone changed out of muddy rubber boots and gathered again in the forward lounge, because two researchers from the Alaska Whale Foundation had jumped on board by invitation and gave a presentation on their work with humpbacks in Southeast Alaska. Dr. Fred Sharpe and his assistant, Peggy, treated us to a video about the Critter Cam, an underwater camera attached to the backs of humpback whales and used by researchers studying the cooperative behavior known as bubble-net feeding. We watched, listened, and asked ourselves questions about how and why a group of unrelated mammals might engage in cooperative feeding behavior.
As the day closes with a pastel pink, blue, and purple sunset, I recall a comment I heard on the trail: “This is just idyllic. If I had to paint a perfect picture of nature, everything we saw today would be in it.” Here in Southeast Alaska we are fortunate enough to be surrounded by an environment rich with life.
