Chatham Strait and Pavlof Harbor
An early morning wake-up call roused us from sleep. We were in the midst of feeding humpback whales. Two adults lunged repeatedly to the surface in tandem, and a calf playfully occupied itself nearby. Time after time the whales rose on their sides with mouths agape as they engulfed their prey. It was difficult to identify the body parts at first, but with practice we could see the distended throat pleats, elongate pectoral fins, and even the baleen. In the photo you can see the ribbed pleats of the lower jaws as well as the bumps known as tubercles on the upper surface of the snouts, or rostrums of two individuals. Each of the tubercles represents a hair follicle, a reminder of the mammalian bloodlines of these massive aquatic creatures. Humpback whales feed on small schooling fish such as herring and sand lance and on krill. For as far as we could see, the spouts, flukes and rolling backs of whales broke the still surface of Chatham Strait. The Sea Lion lingered here until breakfast, and then continued towards our anchorage at Pavlov Harbor.
Hikers and kayakers set off simultaneously then swapped activities later in the morning. A path parallels the shore of the bay at first then follows a stream that leads inland to a cascading waterfall with a fish ladder and a lake beyond. Salmon are beginning their annual return to Alaskan rivers but are not yet working their way upstream here. Many fish congregated in the bay, however, and one leaped right into a kayak before flopping back into the water!
One of the most exciting sightings of the day was a sow brown bear and her yearling cub grazing on the tender vegetation of the meadow margin. Many of the hikers and kayakers watched as these symbols of wilderness went about their daily foraging. Those in boats sat motionless in silence to keep from bothering the bears, and a group of hikers detoured into the woods to avoid disturbing them. As we returned to the ship by Zodiac, we looked back to see that the bears were wandering along the shore as if we had never been there.
After dinner the ship slowed, a sure sign of something special. We emerged on deck to enjoy the whales – listening to their explosive blows as they exhaled then almost instantaneously inhaled through the paired blowholes, seeing them fluke and even witnessing one calf breaching repeatedly for close to an hour. What a thrill to experience such high quality wildlife viewing all in a single day!
An early morning wake-up call roused us from sleep. We were in the midst of feeding humpback whales. Two adults lunged repeatedly to the surface in tandem, and a calf playfully occupied itself nearby. Time after time the whales rose on their sides with mouths agape as they engulfed their prey. It was difficult to identify the body parts at first, but with practice we could see the distended throat pleats, elongate pectoral fins, and even the baleen. In the photo you can see the ribbed pleats of the lower jaws as well as the bumps known as tubercles on the upper surface of the snouts, or rostrums of two individuals. Each of the tubercles represents a hair follicle, a reminder of the mammalian bloodlines of these massive aquatic creatures. Humpback whales feed on small schooling fish such as herring and sand lance and on krill. For as far as we could see, the spouts, flukes and rolling backs of whales broke the still surface of Chatham Strait. The Sea Lion lingered here until breakfast, and then continued towards our anchorage at Pavlov Harbor.
Hikers and kayakers set off simultaneously then swapped activities later in the morning. A path parallels the shore of the bay at first then follows a stream that leads inland to a cascading waterfall with a fish ladder and a lake beyond. Salmon are beginning their annual return to Alaskan rivers but are not yet working their way upstream here. Many fish congregated in the bay, however, and one leaped right into a kayak before flopping back into the water!
One of the most exciting sightings of the day was a sow brown bear and her yearling cub grazing on the tender vegetation of the meadow margin. Many of the hikers and kayakers watched as these symbols of wilderness went about their daily foraging. Those in boats sat motionless in silence to keep from bothering the bears, and a group of hikers detoured into the woods to avoid disturbing them. As we returned to the ship by Zodiac, we looked back to see that the bears were wandering along the shore as if we had never been there.
After dinner the ship slowed, a sure sign of something special. We emerged on deck to enjoy the whales – listening to their explosive blows as they exhaled then almost instantaneously inhaled through the paired blowholes, seeing them fluke and even witnessing one calf breaching repeatedly for close to an hour. What a thrill to experience such high quality wildlife viewing all in a single day!
