A new day and a new port! We were sorry to leave Ketchikan but cruise ships have to keep moving! We docked in Juneau around 10 and headed off for our Discover Alaska Whales tour on a small research vessel. The weather was great once again and our guide, Malia, was fun and interesting. She’s a recent Marine Biology graduate who works in Alaska in the summer and teaches elementary school kids about marine biology in California in the winter. Sounds like a good life!
On the way to the boat Malia shared a Juneau saying – “if you haven’t seen an eagle today you didn’t get out of bed”. Bald eagles are everywhere! Perched on poles, sitting in trees, flying solo or in pairs – you just need to pause and look around and you’ll spot one.
We boarded the boat and spotted the first humpback about 15 minutes out! We went out on the bow and soon realized that it was best to put the binocs and the cameras away and focus on where she would next appear and the staggering beauty that surrounded us. Over the next couple of hours we watched three humpbacks with short bursts of speed in between – those afforded a good opportunity to come in and warm up!
And then we happened on these very large sea lions
The four sea lions on that buoy were dry and had clearly been sunning themselves for quite some time. Four other sea lions were swimming around the buoy and very, very interested in stretching out for a good nap and catching some rays. We must have idled there for a good 15 minutes just watching sea lion drama! Those poor swimmers didn’t stand a chance and eventually started approaching our boat. I heard Jared, the captain, say “I think they’re trying to board us” right before he took off. He had to be kidding, right?
We motored on to a bird nesting site – arctic terns and a couple of other species. That location also held one of several crab pots deployed in the area by the researchers. They are closely monitoring the catch for European Green Crabs which have show up in Ketchikan but so far not in Juneau. They are invasive. Malia pulled in the crab pot and we were all happy to see none of the bad guys
Malia rebaited the trap with fish that she keeps in a water bottle and tossed it back in. She was also kept busy noting details of the whale sitings along the way. Another goal on this trip was to get a picture of a whale’s fluke to identify who was in the area. Every humpback whale’s fluke is like a fingerprint – unique to the whale. We didn’t see the flukes on any of the whales we spotted today; but the company tracks them to see where the whales are travelling and trying to see what causes their local maneuvering.
It was a fantastic tour!
Back on the big boat we warmed up with a quick workout in the very empty and very nice ship gym and then bundled up again for an outdoor Alaskan Salmon Bake.
A short bus ride took us to salmon on the grill, lots of sides and tables with much needed heat lamps! Right behind the eating area there was an old gold mine with a nice waterfall and an old water wheel
Back on the big boat we once again took advantage of the HAL amenities and had a lovely soak in the thermal spa which we had all to ourselves! We slept well in Juneau!