Icy Strait, Chatham Strait, Hanus Bay
Countless times during this voyage, we have watched salmon jump clear out of the water. It is spawning season, and sea lions, bears, eagles and fishermen share in the bounty. As we cruised southeast in Icy Strait this morning, we watched purse seiners encircle their nets around schools of salmon near shore.
In mid-morning we gathered in the lounge for a slide presentation on whales. There is nothing better than a slide presentation for finding exciting wildlife! As the talk wrapped up, our expedition leader politely informed us that a group of bubble-net feeding humpback whales had been sighted! We set the hydrophone in the water and listened to the sounds the whales made as they corralled herring 50 feet down. One whale produced bubbles as it swam in a large spiral towards the surface, while others swam up through the center of the rising bubble net with mouths wide open. All of a sudden, eight 40-ton whales burst through the surface. After a few breaths of air, they all dove and repeated the routine. What a spectacular sight!
We spent the afternoon exploring the salmon stream and lush, old-growth forest at Hanus Bay. Those of us who hiked the trail to Lake Eva had fun slopping through plenty of first-rate, really-deep mud. We shouted ‘Yo, bear!’ at frequent intervals to avoid surprising any large, furry mammals that might be nearby. From the trail we all had good views of the cascade and the schools of salmon in the river. Lots of salmon had already spawned and died, and their bodies were well on their way to being recycled. Carcasses of humpback (pink) and chum (dog) salmon were scattered along the shore of the river. Many had been partially eaten by bears. Kayakers saw three harbor seals swimming among the schools of salmon near the river mouth, while bald eagles perched on trees overhead, and a kingfisher chattered loudly as it flew along the shoreline.
“…life, death, lushness, decay, salt and fresh, sticky mud, every green imaginable, curious seals, enormous bald eagle waiting to scavenge on a spawned-out, male humpback salmon…
Beautiful.
LIFE.”
Countless times during this voyage, we have watched salmon jump clear out of the water. It is spawning season, and sea lions, bears, eagles and fishermen share in the bounty. As we cruised southeast in Icy Strait this morning, we watched purse seiners encircle their nets around schools of salmon near shore.
In mid-morning we gathered in the lounge for a slide presentation on whales. There is nothing better than a slide presentation for finding exciting wildlife! As the talk wrapped up, our expedition leader politely informed us that a group of bubble-net feeding humpback whales had been sighted! We set the hydrophone in the water and listened to the sounds the whales made as they corralled herring 50 feet down. One whale produced bubbles as it swam in a large spiral towards the surface, while others swam up through the center of the rising bubble net with mouths wide open. All of a sudden, eight 40-ton whales burst through the surface. After a few breaths of air, they all dove and repeated the routine. What a spectacular sight!
We spent the afternoon exploring the salmon stream and lush, old-growth forest at Hanus Bay. Those of us who hiked the trail to Lake Eva had fun slopping through plenty of first-rate, really-deep mud. We shouted ‘Yo, bear!’ at frequent intervals to avoid surprising any large, furry mammals that might be nearby. From the trail we all had good views of the cascade and the schools of salmon in the river. Lots of salmon had already spawned and died, and their bodies were well on their way to being recycled. Carcasses of humpback (pink) and chum (dog) salmon were scattered along the shore of the river. Many had been partially eaten by bears. Kayakers saw three harbor seals swimming among the schools of salmon near the river mouth, while bald eagles perched on trees overhead, and a kingfisher chattered loudly as it flew along the shoreline.
“…life, death, lushness, decay, salt and fresh, sticky mud, every green imaginable, curious seals, enormous bald eagle waiting to scavenge on a spawned-out, male humpback salmon…
Beautiful.
LIFE.”
