Today we encountered a group of cooperatively feeding humpback whales in Chatham Strait off the west coast of Admiralty Island. Also in the area was the research vessel Shangri-La, with Fred Sharpe and other scientists from the Alaska Whale Foundation on board. After a brief radio conversation, Fred and his co-workers agreed to come on board the Sea Lion to tell us about their work attempting to understand the complex social groupings of humpbacks.
We gathered on the bow where Fred told us first hand about how video and sound recorders were being attached to the leviathans and used to study their behavior under water. This was particularly enthralling, since all the while the whales were breaching, tail-lobbing and lunge-feeding in the near distance. We were also pleased to learn that Lindblad Expeditions is supporting the work of the Alaska Whale Foundation this summer.
