Iyoukeen Cove and Pavlof Harbor
I cannot imagine waking up to better conditions: unusually warm weather, relatively calm seas, partially cloudy skies, and bubble-net feeding humpback whales! This morning the ship arrived in Iyoukeen Cove after dawn. The cove is located on the eastern coastline of Chichagof Island off Chatham Strait. The cooperative feeding humpback whales were the first of the season seen by any of us on the Sea Bird, and boy, were we thrilled! This cooperative bubble-net feeding occurs only in Southeast Alaska and nowhere else in the world. Unrelated individuals come together to herd herring by blowing bubble nets around a school, using loud, eerie sounds and their bright white pectoral flippers to chase them into the center. They then come up through the middle in a tight group; exploding through the surface with mouths gaping open and fish jumping everywhere. Fantastic and awesome are but two of the many adjectives used in commentary before breakfast. After breakfast it was impossible to pull away from the spectacle, so we stayed!We held our position in the cove for another couple of hours before heading off around the corner to Pavlof Harbor for some kayaking and hiking in the forest near a salmon stream. A female brown bear with midnight black cubs showed briefly in the area in hopes of salmon, but our presence held her back from fishing outright in the falls. However, we left soon and without a doubt she returned for a feast.
After lunch we returned to the inlet where the group of 10 to 13 animals of 40 tons each continued their cooperative feeding for herring. It was mesmerizing. With the hydrophone down, the eerie sounds came up out of the depths as they herded the fish to the surface. Within moments, all of us on deck were conditioned to react. The moment the pitch of the calls started to rise, the tighter the grip on our binoculars and cameras. Andy Szabo, a representative from the Alaska Whale Foundation came to meet us in the cove, and the additional commentary he was able to give us on their research of these individuals added a personal touch to what we had already learned. Slinky, Rubber Lips, Triangle, Snake Eyes were just some of the humpback individuals recognized by Andy after years of observation.
The ship was maneuvered with expertise so many times, we came to expect the explosion of whale to occur always off the bow. We were caught by surprise, however, in one instance when the bubble-net formed just off our starboard bow. Literally, off our starboard bow. In the photo you can see the diminutive figure of one of our guests hanging over the bow getting a bird’s eye view down the gullets of some of these massive mammals after they have come to the surface in the chase of herring. Some guests in the lounge had an extraordinarily clear view of the barnacles on the throat pleats of the whales who surfaced closest to the ship. What more could I possibly say to express the thrill and grandeur, of this day, except to say we were privileged beyond reason to be here, in the right place, at the right time.
I cannot imagine waking up to better conditions: unusually warm weather, relatively calm seas, partially cloudy skies, and bubble-net feeding humpback whales! This morning the ship arrived in Iyoukeen Cove after dawn. The cove is located on the eastern coastline of Chichagof Island off Chatham Strait. The cooperative feeding humpback whales were the first of the season seen by any of us on the Sea Bird, and boy, were we thrilled! This cooperative bubble-net feeding occurs only in Southeast Alaska and nowhere else in the world. Unrelated individuals come together to herd herring by blowing bubble nets around a school, using loud, eerie sounds and their bright white pectoral flippers to chase them into the center. They then come up through the middle in a tight group; exploding through the surface with mouths gaping open and fish jumping everywhere. Fantastic and awesome are but two of the many adjectives used in commentary before breakfast. After breakfast it was impossible to pull away from the spectacle, so we stayed!We held our position in the cove for another couple of hours before heading off around the corner to Pavlof Harbor for some kayaking and hiking in the forest near a salmon stream. A female brown bear with midnight black cubs showed briefly in the area in hopes of salmon, but our presence held her back from fishing outright in the falls. However, we left soon and without a doubt she returned for a feast.
After lunch we returned to the inlet where the group of 10 to 13 animals of 40 tons each continued their cooperative feeding for herring. It was mesmerizing. With the hydrophone down, the eerie sounds came up out of the depths as they herded the fish to the surface. Within moments, all of us on deck were conditioned to react. The moment the pitch of the calls started to rise, the tighter the grip on our binoculars and cameras. Andy Szabo, a representative from the Alaska Whale Foundation came to meet us in the cove, and the additional commentary he was able to give us on their research of these individuals added a personal touch to what we had already learned. Slinky, Rubber Lips, Triangle, Snake Eyes were just some of the humpback individuals recognized by Andy after years of observation.
The ship was maneuvered with expertise so many times, we came to expect the explosion of whale to occur always off the bow. We were caught by surprise, however, in one instance when the bubble-net formed just off our starboard bow. Literally, off our starboard bow. In the photo you can see the diminutive figure of one of our guests hanging over the bow getting a bird’s eye view down the gullets of some of these massive mammals after they have come to the surface in the chase of herring. Some guests in the lounge had an extraordinarily clear view of the barnacles on the throat pleats of the whales who surfaced closest to the ship. What more could I possibly say to express the thrill and grandeur, of this day, except to say we were privileged beyond reason to be here, in the right place, at the right time.
