Pavlof Harbor & Chatham Strait Looking For Marine Mammals
In the dusky hours after sunset the Sea Lion had left Glacier Bay and headed southeast into Chatham Strait. The white nights of summer keep the skies light throughout the night and in the early hours of morning spotting for marine mammals had begun from the bridge. Around 6:30 am Captain Graves decided to poke into Tenakee Inlet and see if there were any humpback whales hiding inside this narrow and deep inlet. Finding nothing, he turned the Sea Lion east then northwest and headed around the corner and into Freshwater Bay. At the near end of this bay is Pavlof Harbor, an extremely protected bay. During breakfast, preparations were made to drop the hook and begin our morning activities of hiking and kayaking. After breakfast announcements and the customary donning of gear we assembled on the aft 200 deck and by Zodiac made our way ashore. Kayakers were brought ashore first. The morning had been warm and slightly cloudy, but as the day progressed the sun pushed it’s away through, and a warm and sunny day along with very calm waters made for ideal kayaking. Poking in and around Pavlof Harbor, enjoying the sounds of bald eagles and watching the shoreline for other inhabitants of the forest became the focus. The deep greens of the forest were mixed with splashes of color from a bright display of native summer flowers.
Hikers had an opportunity to walk an old well-used bear trail just inside the edge of the forest away from the beach. Inside and under the cover of hemlock and spruce trees we found splashes of pink decorating the floor of the green and brown forest. The spotted coralroot orchid was just coming into full bloom! The best view of this eight to ten-inch flower was of course at ground level, leading many of us to find several other unique and delicate flowers found in the temperate rainforest.
For both kayakers and hikers a highlight of our morning explorations was the small waterfall and old man-made salmon ladder. The waterfall still had a large amount of water pouring over its cascades coming from the lake above, which added both a visual and auditory pleasures to the morning in Pavlof Harbor. All too soon we were called back to the Sea Lion, not just for lunch but also to move on to our afternoon activities. The sun was warm, the skies clearing and conditions for finding marine mammals looked very good. Lookouts were posted around the ship and the cruising and spotting continued through out the afternoon.
A lone humpback was spotted near Parker Point north of the community of Angoon on Admiralty Island. Naturalists remained on the bow continuing the search and very late in the day at approximately 5:45 pm an announcement came from the bow, “we have found killer whales, we have found killer whales.” These marine mammals are not a common sighting, so everyone on the Sea Lion was excited. The bow was soon filled with guests, staff and crew all watching as Captain Graves brought us closer and closer to one large male, at least two or three females and one very small killer whale who continued to roll and try to play with several of the adult animals. Many times the naturalists dropped the hydrophone over the side of the Sea Lion to determine whether we were observing a transient or resident pod of killer whales, but we did not hear any sound, concluding that we were possibly in the presence of a pod of transient animals. With a backdrop of the mountains of Baranof Island, the glassy seas of southern Chatham Strait, the light of late day and the constant surfacing of these marine mammals an unbelievably beautiful scene was permanently etched into our memories. All activities for the remainder of the evening were brought to the bow. The sun moves very slowly around the solstice of the year, and this evening we continued to enjoy the sun’s warmth as we remained watching, photographing and taking in the gift of being in the home of Southeast Alaska’s killer whales.
In the dusky hours after sunset the Sea Lion had left Glacier Bay and headed southeast into Chatham Strait. The white nights of summer keep the skies light throughout the night and in the early hours of morning spotting for marine mammals had begun from the bridge. Around 6:30 am Captain Graves decided to poke into Tenakee Inlet and see if there were any humpback whales hiding inside this narrow and deep inlet. Finding nothing, he turned the Sea Lion east then northwest and headed around the corner and into Freshwater Bay. At the near end of this bay is Pavlof Harbor, an extremely protected bay. During breakfast, preparations were made to drop the hook and begin our morning activities of hiking and kayaking. After breakfast announcements and the customary donning of gear we assembled on the aft 200 deck and by Zodiac made our way ashore. Kayakers were brought ashore first. The morning had been warm and slightly cloudy, but as the day progressed the sun pushed it’s away through, and a warm and sunny day along with very calm waters made for ideal kayaking. Poking in and around Pavlof Harbor, enjoying the sounds of bald eagles and watching the shoreline for other inhabitants of the forest became the focus. The deep greens of the forest were mixed with splashes of color from a bright display of native summer flowers.
Hikers had an opportunity to walk an old well-used bear trail just inside the edge of the forest away from the beach. Inside and under the cover of hemlock and spruce trees we found splashes of pink decorating the floor of the green and brown forest. The spotted coralroot orchid was just coming into full bloom! The best view of this eight to ten-inch flower was of course at ground level, leading many of us to find several other unique and delicate flowers found in the temperate rainforest.
For both kayakers and hikers a highlight of our morning explorations was the small waterfall and old man-made salmon ladder. The waterfall still had a large amount of water pouring over its cascades coming from the lake above, which added both a visual and auditory pleasures to the morning in Pavlof Harbor. All too soon we were called back to the Sea Lion, not just for lunch but also to move on to our afternoon activities. The sun was warm, the skies clearing and conditions for finding marine mammals looked very good. Lookouts were posted around the ship and the cruising and spotting continued through out the afternoon.
A lone humpback was spotted near Parker Point north of the community of Angoon on Admiralty Island. Naturalists remained on the bow continuing the search and very late in the day at approximately 5:45 pm an announcement came from the bow, “we have found killer whales, we have found killer whales.” These marine mammals are not a common sighting, so everyone on the Sea Lion was excited. The bow was soon filled with guests, staff and crew all watching as Captain Graves brought us closer and closer to one large male, at least two or three females and one very small killer whale who continued to roll and try to play with several of the adult animals. Many times the naturalists dropped the hydrophone over the side of the Sea Lion to determine whether we were observing a transient or resident pod of killer whales, but we did not hear any sound, concluding that we were possibly in the presence of a pod of transient animals. With a backdrop of the mountains of Baranof Island, the glassy seas of southern Chatham Strait, the light of late day and the constant surfacing of these marine mammals an unbelievably beautiful scene was permanently etched into our memories. All activities for the remainder of the evening were brought to the bow. The sun moves very slowly around the solstice of the year, and this evening we continued to enjoy the sun’s warmth as we remained watching, photographing and taking in the gift of being in the home of Southeast Alaska’s killer whales.