Pavlov Harbor & Chatham Strait
We have spent the last week exploring the wilderness of southeast Alaska and enjoying the abundant wildlife that this area has to offer. Today was no exception to this as whales, birds, carpets of flowers, and salmon surrounded us, all the while with snow covered peaks of the Tongass National Forest towering over us.
Sunny skies greeted us at Pavlov Harbor as we went ashore just after breakfast. Paddling silently at the base of the falls, multiple eagles were fishing in the shallow stream within a few meters of our boats. Later, we climbed the falls to gaze upon Pavlov Lake. Peering down at sockeye salmon that have already cleared the falls, one is amazed at the journey these fish have taken, and the intricate web that is dependent on them. Beaver tracks, bear fur stuck in the sap of a scratching tree, a hermit thrush picking insects out of the falls, and salmon berries are all connected to these fish who have returned for eons back to this lake.
After lunch brought more incredible wild experiences: Southeast Alaska is the only place in the world where bubble-netting humpback whales work cooperatively to feast on the abundant marine life. We dropped the hydrophone into the water with the whale vocalizations slowly increasing in volume, followed by the eruption of charismatic mega fauna, mouths agape, swallowing huge numbers of herring. Additional erratic behavior, breaching, pectoral fin slapping is observed; perhaps a call to others, a prey herding technique, or just plain old because they can.
We have spent the last week exploring the wilderness of southeast Alaska and enjoying the abundant wildlife that this area has to offer. Today was no exception to this as whales, birds, carpets of flowers, and salmon surrounded us, all the while with snow covered peaks of the Tongass National Forest towering over us.
Sunny skies greeted us at Pavlov Harbor as we went ashore just after breakfast. Paddling silently at the base of the falls, multiple eagles were fishing in the shallow stream within a few meters of our boats. Later, we climbed the falls to gaze upon Pavlov Lake. Peering down at sockeye salmon that have already cleared the falls, one is amazed at the journey these fish have taken, and the intricate web that is dependent on them. Beaver tracks, bear fur stuck in the sap of a scratching tree, a hermit thrush picking insects out of the falls, and salmon berries are all connected to these fish who have returned for eons back to this lake.
After lunch brought more incredible wild experiences: Southeast Alaska is the only place in the world where bubble-netting humpback whales work cooperatively to feast on the abundant marine life. We dropped the hydrophone into the water with the whale vocalizations slowly increasing in volume, followed by the eruption of charismatic mega fauna, mouths agape, swallowing huge numbers of herring. Additional erratic behavior, breaching, pectoral fin slapping is observed; perhaps a call to others, a prey herding technique, or just plain old because they can.
