Frederick Sound
Today we most certainly explored the water of Southeast Alaska. From an early morning wake-up call for humpback whales to a late afternoon plunge, the focus of our first day aboard the Sea Lion was becoming intimately acquainted with the pristine, productive waters of Frederick Sound and Gambier Bay.
This morning we awoke to watch and listen as four humpback whales surfaced, breathed and dove ahead of us; the sound of their enormous exhalation carried to us on the breeze, as the columns of mist from their blows slowly dissipated. All was calm until one of the whales leapt out of the water in a full body breach, just 200 yards ahead of us! Breakfast brought us briefly back indoors, only to be called back out on deck an hour later for an amazing sighting. Keen eyes spotted a pod of killer whales in the distance, then noticed the blow of a humpback right in their midst. Binoculars trained on the scene, we approached for a closer investigation. For more than an hour, we watched about 15 killer whales and three humpbacks feeding and interacting in mysterious ways. We wanted it to be a killer whale hunt, but we saw no evidence of that. Instead, we watched all of the whales circle, lunge and dive in very close proximity to one another. The humpbacks never swam away, and the killer whales never quite seemed to pursue them. At one point the three humpbacks swam so close to the stern of our motionless ship, we could count the barnacles hanging from the tips of their long, white pectoral fins!
We took to the small boats for the afternoon, exploring Gambier Bay by Zodiac and kayak. Blocky sedimentary rocks laid down millenia ago in submarine landslides lined the shores, in some places topped with limestone cliffs bearing characteristic vegetation. The Zodiacs roamed far to find bald eagles perched in tall spruce tops and harbor seals surfacing curiously nearby. Some saw a slinky mink foraging in the intertidal zone, some caught a brief glimpse of one of Admiralty Island’s famed brown bears and others watched a Sitka black-tailed deer amble down the beach. Some kayakers sought exercise, paddling an energetic five mile round trip, while others slipped quietly along the shoreline to listen to waterfalls and warblers.
Near the end of this fabulous day, an Alaska swim call was announced, drawing a small crowd ready for the cold water plunge. What a fitting way to celebrate the beginning of this voyage, and to literally dive into the wilds of Southeast Alaska.
Today we most certainly explored the water of Southeast Alaska. From an early morning wake-up call for humpback whales to a late afternoon plunge, the focus of our first day aboard the Sea Lion was becoming intimately acquainted with the pristine, productive waters of Frederick Sound and Gambier Bay.
This morning we awoke to watch and listen as four humpback whales surfaced, breathed and dove ahead of us; the sound of their enormous exhalation carried to us on the breeze, as the columns of mist from their blows slowly dissipated. All was calm until one of the whales leapt out of the water in a full body breach, just 200 yards ahead of us! Breakfast brought us briefly back indoors, only to be called back out on deck an hour later for an amazing sighting. Keen eyes spotted a pod of killer whales in the distance, then noticed the blow of a humpback right in their midst. Binoculars trained on the scene, we approached for a closer investigation. For more than an hour, we watched about 15 killer whales and three humpbacks feeding and interacting in mysterious ways. We wanted it to be a killer whale hunt, but we saw no evidence of that. Instead, we watched all of the whales circle, lunge and dive in very close proximity to one another. The humpbacks never swam away, and the killer whales never quite seemed to pursue them. At one point the three humpbacks swam so close to the stern of our motionless ship, we could count the barnacles hanging from the tips of their long, white pectoral fins!
We took to the small boats for the afternoon, exploring Gambier Bay by Zodiac and kayak. Blocky sedimentary rocks laid down millenia ago in submarine landslides lined the shores, in some places topped with limestone cliffs bearing characteristic vegetation. The Zodiacs roamed far to find bald eagles perched in tall spruce tops and harbor seals surfacing curiously nearby. Some saw a slinky mink foraging in the intertidal zone, some caught a brief glimpse of one of Admiralty Island’s famed brown bears and others watched a Sitka black-tailed deer amble down the beach. Some kayakers sought exercise, paddling an energetic five mile round trip, while others slipped quietly along the shoreline to listen to waterfalls and warblers.
Near the end of this fabulous day, an Alaska swim call was announced, drawing a small crowd ready for the cold water plunge. What a fitting way to celebrate the beginning of this voyage, and to literally dive into the wilds of Southeast Alaska.
