The morning was spent searching for marine mammals. We found several humpback whales lunge feeding at the surface. This photo shows two whales right next to each other as they swam sideways close to the ship and opened their huge mouths to fill up their even larger throat. The pleats that line the bottom portion of the whale scan be seen as they stretch to accommodate all the water taken in as they feed on the small krill that are abundant in the waters of southeast Alaska. The ship followed the whales for quite some time as they made feeding circles, slapped their flukes, breached from the water, and did fluke down dives.
In the afternoon we went ashore for a hike in the beautiful temperate hemlock and spruce rainforest of the area. This was a chance to see a mature forest with its massive trees, fresh wild berries, banana slugs, and signs of bears in the woods.
