Near Pavlof Harbor is a short but broad and magnificent waterfall churning itself into white tumbling cascades. It flattens out and flows down small rivulets, churning between dark rocks and passes salmon struggling in the opposite direction. Furry feet race and splash here and there pouncing on fish. It is these barefoot bears we came here to see. We started at 6:30 a.m. at the end of a rising tide. This was the perfect time to arrive. As we approached the stream with our inflatable boats, a large brown bear stood staring into the water and waiting for a convenient salmon to swim within reach. A female with two cubs of the year soon wandered out of the forest and stared intently at the other bear, probably judging the potential danger for her cubs. She then confidently walked a few feet and grabbed a salmon. The cubs soon joined her as she made a few of the salmon parts available for them. We floated a respectable distance away, mesmerized by the drama that unfolded. The early morning passed quickly, and all of our guests had a chance to watch undisturbed bears feast on salmon.
Iyoukeen Bay is a site with a few old pilings left over from a limestone quarry. It was a great spot for kayaking and taking walks. Some set off for hikes in an old growth forest complete with gnarled spruce trees, a place on the trail where bears had stepped in exactly the same footprints for decades, and bear hair on some trees used as scratching posts. We also discovered bones and talons from two separate eagles. Kayakers had a large expanse of water to vigorously cross and intertidal creatures at low tide to examine, or they could simply float and stare out at big puffy clouds decorating half the blue sky.
Later in the day while cruising in Chatham Strait, a tall and narrow dorsal fin sliced through the water in the distance. The words “killer whales” entered most everyone’s speech within a few minutes. Out on the bow the weather was delightful. The afternoon sun shined across the water illuminating it like liquid mercury, and the backlit spray from killer whale blows thrilled the senses. This was a fish-eating pod of Orcinus orca that spent much of the time splashing, lobtailing, and surfacing in groups. We put a hydrophone down for a quick insight into their vocalizations before tearing ourselves away to continue toward Sitka. Tomorrow would be the end of the awesome experience of playing around in the stunning beauty of Southeast Alaska.
