Back through Fredrick Sound, we headed up through the Chatham Strait and to Baranof Island. This is an amazing geologic region, where the ice during the last ice age was more than a mile thick. This caused the earth to sink about 1,000 feet, and created many deep valleys when the ice retreated which are the myriad bays we see today. Our hoped-for day included whales, bears, kayaking, and hiking.
The map, moving back to the north.
More spectacular country as we pass through the Strait and Warm Springs Bay.
Here, on Baranof Island, we collected Dr. Andy Szabo, director of the Alaska Whale Foundation. He gave a wonderful presentation about their work in the region and his own research on humpbacks. The group could not get enough time with him.
After, the underwater specialist prepared for her first dive of the trip. The waters here are pretty cold so there's a lot of gear involved.
Two other crew mates went with her. This day it was the purser and the assistant engineer. Quite a number of the crew are also divers, it turns out. She would share her footage during evening recap, talk about the invertebrate side of the ecosystem. While I usually knew what she was showing, clearly many didn't, but they were won over by her infectious enthusiasm. And she's so tiny! She wears about 20 pounds in weights to help keep her submerged. This day, the waters were cold, about 48 degrees, so they were only down for about 40 minutes.
And ta-da! Sunshine and whales! The first day we were able to be out on the bow of the ship looking for wildlife, and we got humpbacks. Yay!
Not too showy, no crazy behavior, but a few tails. Most everyone was pretty content though after three days of rain.
After lunch, excursions began at Kelp Bay. I was glad to go on my own or second someone in a kayak; there was another woman about my age on the trip who was a solo traveler and she asked if I'd go with her. It was a full round of kayakers!
With my (actually) waterproof gear, it was great! Seriously, it would have been great anyway.
Ah, bliss.
Yep, we were pretty far from the ship. The water here was fairly shallow. Bears had been spotted along the island coast so there were areas we could go and others we couldn't.
Then we took the zodiacs when the first group of hikers came back for a chance to see the feeding bears. We did, startling one unintentionally. So we all retreated to a little peninsula of land to look at bear signs: trampled grass, claw marks, scat, and salmon.
These streams are full of spawning--and dying--salmon. So of course I wanted nothing else but to pick up the heads and look at them. Thank goodness one of the guides was willing to indulge me! Being on federal lands and not being a licensed guide, I didn't think I should pick them up directly, especially not in front of a group when I'm serving in some form of official role. But if he picked them and handed them to me, well, that's teaching. Here, I'm examining the gills.
And here we're looking at the mouth. This is a female because the lower jaw is about equal in length to the upper; male lower jaws are longer. And the tongue is rasped. I was surprised to find that some of the rasps on the tongue were sharper than the teeth! I will know when my mother and my cousin read this because I will hear them saying, 'We are NOT related.' Sorry ladies. I really was having a blast! And no, salmon are not pretty fish.
You can see how many salmon are in this stream! Salmon runs in AK are doing quite well, unlike WA and OR. Of course, fewer dams in AK....
It's so beautiful, everywhere.
Eventually we needed to head back to the ship. But first, the bears came back! This time a mama and cub. So we got to see feeding bears on this sunshine-y day too. Not bad.
And, with sunshine you get sunsets. I often missed them, being either in the shower or in recap.
This evening at recap everyone was warned that it was likely to be a rough night. They had some seasickness medicine available. I was going to grab some, in case, but forgot. I figured that was fine; I don't usually get seasick. But once in my cabin, I was not so happy. But, I told myself, I don't get seasick. So I got ready for bed and climbed into my berth. I was lying the same direction the ship was traveling, so it actually was great. While the waves and the bouncing were not regular, I was out in no time flat. and slept really well. Found out next day, we were in 25-knot winds and 6-foot seas most of the evening. Not everyone was as content as I, sorry to say.
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