Cruising Chatham Strait & Sitkoh Bay
We awoke this morning slowly heading south in Chatham Strait, and shortly after breakfast many whale blows were spotted. We approached the shoreline of Admiralty Island and realized we once again had bubblenet feeding. Today, we had a group of at least twelve humpback whales and they were gradually working north, very close to the shoreline. We patiently followed them, and repeatedly the animals lunged to the surface, mouths agape, exhibiting this fantastically complicated feeding behavior. Over and over they would dive, each whale showing it’s distinctive under tail pattern. Then, after hearing one animal call over our hydrophone, they would simultaneously lunge out of the water. As we were considering leaving, the whales approached us for a final send off. We were sitting in neutral, and we witnessed the bubble net rising up nearly in contact with our bow. Although the whales did not lunge, they did surface within a few feet our still vessel, giving us unbelievably close-up looks of these gentle giants.
For the afternoon, we crossed Chatham Strait to the tranquil waters of Sitkoh Bay on Chichagof Island, where we set off to explore the bay by kayaks and hiking. Eagles dove for fish and one even returned to its nearby massive nest to feed its chick. On the far shore, many kayakers and hikers spotted a couple of brown bears, feeding in the shoreline vegetation as they are gearing up for the salmon to begin their spawning run. An old logging road allowed hikers to get some exercise and explore some beautiful secondary forest. A few large trees were left behind and they were surrounded by thick alder growth. The surface of the road was littered with bear sign, including stalks of cow parsnip that had been severed off by feeding bears. A sure highlight for many was the abundant banana slugs slowly cruising amongst the vegetation. This bay has had a long history, not only of logging, but an old cannery also. A very scenic location, it has now been taken over by a small sport fishing lodge and made for a beautiful backdrop for our afternoon's exploration. Just before dinner we returned to the Sea Lion and set sail back into Chatham Strait to continue our voyage in the wonderful waters of southeast Alaska.
We awoke this morning slowly heading south in Chatham Strait, and shortly after breakfast many whale blows were spotted. We approached the shoreline of Admiralty Island and realized we once again had bubblenet feeding. Today, we had a group of at least twelve humpback whales and they were gradually working north, very close to the shoreline. We patiently followed them, and repeatedly the animals lunged to the surface, mouths agape, exhibiting this fantastically complicated feeding behavior. Over and over they would dive, each whale showing it’s distinctive under tail pattern. Then, after hearing one animal call over our hydrophone, they would simultaneously lunge out of the water. As we were considering leaving, the whales approached us for a final send off. We were sitting in neutral, and we witnessed the bubble net rising up nearly in contact with our bow. Although the whales did not lunge, they did surface within a few feet our still vessel, giving us unbelievably close-up looks of these gentle giants.
For the afternoon, we crossed Chatham Strait to the tranquil waters of Sitkoh Bay on Chichagof Island, where we set off to explore the bay by kayaks and hiking. Eagles dove for fish and one even returned to its nearby massive nest to feed its chick. On the far shore, many kayakers and hikers spotted a couple of brown bears, feeding in the shoreline vegetation as they are gearing up for the salmon to begin their spawning run. An old logging road allowed hikers to get some exercise and explore some beautiful secondary forest. A few large trees were left behind and they were surrounded by thick alder growth. The surface of the road was littered with bear sign, including stalks of cow parsnip that had been severed off by feeding bears. A sure highlight for many was the abundant banana slugs slowly cruising amongst the vegetation. This bay has had a long history, not only of logging, but an old cannery also. A very scenic location, it has now been taken over by a small sport fishing lodge and made for a beautiful backdrop for our afternoon's exploration. Just before dinner we returned to the Sea Lion and set sail back into Chatham Strait to continue our voyage in the wonderful waters of southeast Alaska.
