Pavlov Harbor and Basket Bay
This morning we cruised around Pt. Augusta following the shore of Chichagof Island south. The gray, low clouds and light mist were the perfect Southeast Alaska day for exploration. Soon enough the National Geographic Sea Bird pulled into Freshwater Bay, then into the even smaller bay known as Pavlov Harbor; named “Paul’s Harbor” by the Russian fur traders when they established themselves in this region in the mid-nineteen hundreds. It is now known for the protective anchorage it provides when cold fronts start pouring down in fall and winter. Off to one side an impressive salmon stream flowed down from a river over a 20-foot waterfall. We were early yet, but within a week or so, salmon will be arriving in droves (so we hope). Today when the hikers went ashore, we found a dozen or so pink salmon and cut-throat trout at the base of the falls, waiting for what? The right time? Energy? Higher tide? An internal clock alarm to ring and say “go!”?
We walked into the forest and found beautiful bear prints and bear poop – some very, VERY fresh. Through boot-sucking mud, over fallen trunk and roots, some wandered into the meadow around Pavlov Lake. Others spent time investigating the inter-tidal zone delightfully exposed due to a negative low tide (really, really low). Sea stars were found eating butter clams and blue mussels, kelp coated the rocks.
In the afternoon the ship found her way into yet an even-smaller bay known as Basket Bay down the coast. At a good, high tide, one can take Zodiacs and kayaks up a narrow stream, under an arch of marble (similar to Gloomy Knob in Glacier Bay National Park) covered with the dripping green of temperate rainforest vegetation. Broad leaves reach for the light, leaning out over the water above our heads. Salmon hung in shallow water shadows under fallen trees. A narrow opening at the end tempted the adventurous to explore. Darkness, walls of rock, a glimmer of light, a brief glance up through a crevice filled with green light.
The sun was shining, the water a balmy 52.6 degrees Fahrenheit, so why not? A polar plunge was called and thirteen intrepid swimmers went for a dip. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Dinner was interrupted by the glassy smooth ocean surface being broken by lunge-feeding humpback whales off the coast of Admiralty Island. A few individuals even made distinct rings of bubbles before coming up inside with mouths agape. Sideways lunges were more the norm, with one giant giving consistent advance warning to his emergence, with a blast of air from below, before surfacing. Whale body parts were discussed, the where, how and when of this, that or the other fin, belly or fluke. The photographers had a ball! Everyone, of all ages, was out on deck in the brisk evening air to witness this incredible sight. Humpbacks in the sunset on a glassy sea.
