Chatham Strait, Lake Eva
Bears before breakfast and dinner, whales all morning, and hikes and kayaks for the afternoon – what a spectacular day in Southeast Alaska! A brown bear sow with cubs wandered methodically along a sandy shoreline on Chichagof Island before disappearing up a salmon stream. Another bear family investigated the driftwood strand a short distance away, and then a somewhat gangly lone subadult lumbered into the forest farther down the beach. Bears are typically solitary creatures except for mothers and their young, courting pairs, or siblings. Nevertheless, an abundance of salmon or other food can lure individuals into a small area. Most likely that is why we were fortunate enough to see so many individuals in a single location.
By this time on our voyage humpback whales were no longer great surprises, but this morning we discovered a very special group of individuals engaged in a type of foraging called cooperative bubble-net feeding. One animal releases a string of bubbles in a large circle. These form a sparkling curtain that rises around herring that are startled into a tight school. The humpbacks flash their long black and white flippers, and one emits an eerie wailing call, confusing the fish even further. The participating whales act as a well-practiced team and swim up through the mass of prey. We watched this engrossing process over and over again as gaping mouths erupted at the surface with herring flying. An underwater microphone called a hydrophone captured the sounds just prior to each group surfacing event. When the lunging heads burst clear of the water it was difficult to identify all of the assorted body parts. The skin beneath the lower jaws was filled with food and water and billowed like stretched-out accordion folds. Shaggy strands of baleen framed the elongate pink palates. Rounded bumps on top of the nose or rostrum identified the top of the whales’ heads. Now and then a pectoral flipper or the edge of a tail protruded from the churning frenzy. Bubblenet feeding is rarely observed outside of Southeast Alaska, and even here it is a very special sighting. Grateful for the experience of witnessing the sounds and lunges of these impressive marine mammals, we continued on towards our afternoon destination at Hanus Bay.
Hikers and kayakers disembarked after lunch for at lovely area near Peril Strait, the channel we would later take on our way to Sitka. Paddlers skirted the bank and entered a hidden saltwater lagoon to explore the quiet water and the mouth of a productive salmon stream. Hikers followed a path trodden by bears and people alike paralleling the course of the drainage. A deep pool stirred with hundreds of salmon that congregated in anticipation of spawning. These fish die after breeding, but their carcasses will nourish the water where their eggs will hatch. The decaying bodies also feed bears, eagles, mink and gulls and will fertilize the trees in the forest with nutrients from marine ecosystems. It is a cycle that has continued for centuries. Several hiking parties watched a brown bear with two young cubs while she padded along the water’s edge fishing. The youngsters took a swim to follow their mother.
The wild lands and marine ecosystems of Southeast Alaska continue to provide suitable habitat to perpetuate the successful survival of bears, salmon and whales and hopefully will do so for years to come so that others will be able to enjoy the abundance of life that World Wildlife Fund guests and other trip participants have experienced on this wonderful week together.
Bears before breakfast and dinner, whales all morning, and hikes and kayaks for the afternoon – what a spectacular day in Southeast Alaska! A brown bear sow with cubs wandered methodically along a sandy shoreline on Chichagof Island before disappearing up a salmon stream. Another bear family investigated the driftwood strand a short distance away, and then a somewhat gangly lone subadult lumbered into the forest farther down the beach. Bears are typically solitary creatures except for mothers and their young, courting pairs, or siblings. Nevertheless, an abundance of salmon or other food can lure individuals into a small area. Most likely that is why we were fortunate enough to see so many individuals in a single location.
By this time on our voyage humpback whales were no longer great surprises, but this morning we discovered a very special group of individuals engaged in a type of foraging called cooperative bubble-net feeding. One animal releases a string of bubbles in a large circle. These form a sparkling curtain that rises around herring that are startled into a tight school. The humpbacks flash their long black and white flippers, and one emits an eerie wailing call, confusing the fish even further. The participating whales act as a well-practiced team and swim up through the mass of prey. We watched this engrossing process over and over again as gaping mouths erupted at the surface with herring flying. An underwater microphone called a hydrophone captured the sounds just prior to each group surfacing event. When the lunging heads burst clear of the water it was difficult to identify all of the assorted body parts. The skin beneath the lower jaws was filled with food and water and billowed like stretched-out accordion folds. Shaggy strands of baleen framed the elongate pink palates. Rounded bumps on top of the nose or rostrum identified the top of the whales’ heads. Now and then a pectoral flipper or the edge of a tail protruded from the churning frenzy. Bubblenet feeding is rarely observed outside of Southeast Alaska, and even here it is a very special sighting. Grateful for the experience of witnessing the sounds and lunges of these impressive marine mammals, we continued on towards our afternoon destination at Hanus Bay.
Hikers and kayakers disembarked after lunch for at lovely area near Peril Strait, the channel we would later take on our way to Sitka. Paddlers skirted the bank and entered a hidden saltwater lagoon to explore the quiet water and the mouth of a productive salmon stream. Hikers followed a path trodden by bears and people alike paralleling the course of the drainage. A deep pool stirred with hundreds of salmon that congregated in anticipation of spawning. These fish die after breeding, but their carcasses will nourish the water where their eggs will hatch. The decaying bodies also feed bears, eagles, mink and gulls and will fertilize the trees in the forest with nutrients from marine ecosystems. It is a cycle that has continued for centuries. Several hiking parties watched a brown bear with two young cubs while she padded along the water’s edge fishing. The youngsters took a swim to follow their mother.
The wild lands and marine ecosystems of Southeast Alaska continue to provide suitable habitat to perpetuate the successful survival of bears, salmon and whales and hopefully will do so for years to come so that others will be able to enjoy the abundance of life that World Wildlife Fund guests and other trip participants have experienced on this wonderful week together.
