- Morning whale watching tour just outside of June
- Watch five humpback whales hunt for Herringen together
- Make purchases from Fred Meyers
- «Sünnele» and reading
This is the name of the spectacular hunting technique used by humpback whales. Air bubbles are ejected and a kind of curtain is formed to enclose a school of fish. Then the whales, which act as a team, push their wide-open giant mouths into the crowd from below. I've seen this behavior a few times in documentaries, but until the day before yesterday I didn't know that it was also practiced by humpback whales in the Inside Passage. On the ferry I found out from the Dutch couple that an acquaintance of theirs could watch this spectacle here.
So why not go on a whale watching tour, I thought, and yesterday evening I spontaneously booked one for this morning. Since I'd probably better take it easy on my aching knee anyway. To do this, I have to be available at the agency's office opposite the port at half past eight. With the Orca Eco Tours speedboat we drive from Auke Bay out into the island world. A bald eagle welcomes us in the harbor. A little further out, a lonely sea lion swims past us. Other conspecifics lie lazily on a buoy and enjoy the wonderful weather. It doesn’t take too long and we’re about to see a group of humpback whales. For now, only the back with the small rear fin and the huge tail flap can be seen. Then the baleen whales submerge, what remains is the magnificent backdrop of the mountain range covered with glaciers, the wonderfully blue shimmering sea and the sea birds circling in the sky.
Suddenly the water boils right in front of Herringen, seagulls tumble down from above and finally the huge jaws of the marine mammals appear from below. I and probably the crew didn't expect that. No bubble netting had been seen in over a month. After all, this common hunting technique is only used around 200 of the 3,000 humpback whales off the coast of Southeast Alaska. In addition to the so-called breaching (the rare jumps in the air) and spy hopping (lifting your head out of the water and seeing what is going on above the water), this is certainly the most attractive observation on a whale watching tour.
Like all whale species, humpback whales were hunted intensively until the 1960s because of their valuable trans and brought to the brink of extinction. Today there are again around 80,000 humpback whales worldwide, which is only a fraction of the original population. The up to 18 m long and 30 tons heavy marine mammals spend the summer months in the cool waters of the North Pacific to fill their bellies. For the mating season, the whales then migrate to the tropical waters around Hawaii or off the Mexican coast near Baja California.
We can observe the group of mouths around a dozen times. In addition to our ship, which is manned by 12 people and 3 crew members, there are two larger and a few small boats on site. From the roof of our medium-sized boat specially built for whale watching - with a flat bow and headwater motor - we have a great view of what is happening in the water. Once a humpback whale appears right next to one of the small boats and sticks its massive head out of the water as if it wanted to take a closer look at the passengers. The best indication of the next appearance of the whales are the circling seagulls, which usually realize the situation the fastest.
After this spectacle we drive back to the port. In the meantime, the sun has warmed the air considerably. I sit on the stairs in the port of Juneau in my T-shirt and enjoy the sun. After a visit to the library, I go to the Fred Meyer supermarket and buy supplies for the next few days. At Mendenhall Lake I indulge myself and treat myself to an ice cream. Then I drive to the Auke Bay Recreation Site and enjoy the almost 25 degrees by the sea. I treat myself to a short nap.
Next, I drive to an outdoor retailer and fill the tank again before heading back to Canada. After all, it's time to prepare dinner. I make a campfire in a spacious spot by Mendenhall Lake Campground.
