Nature Spoils Me

Just recently, I had the craziest day of my life with animal sightings.

I was working my second job that day, which entailed only driving and not guiding.  The guides take the tour group on a hike near the glacier then entertain them on a whale watch.    As I was waiting for them at the pick-up spot at the end of the glacier trail, a huge group of people, including the group I was picking up, gathered around a nearby stream.  The tour group came over to my bus and told me excitedly that they had just seen a bear.  We pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road where a group of rangers were hanging out.  One motioned to me to stop, and just as I did, a black bear came out of the bushes along the roadside and crossed the road just 20 or so feet in front of us.  Then a little ball of black fur rushed after his mother, and the two went into the forested area on the other side of the road.  I managed to snap myself out of amazement towards the end to snap this picture.

I dropped this group off at Auke Bay where they began their whale watching.  As the next group came on, we noticed a harbor seal in the water.  It’s rare to see these guys because they’re very shy and skittish around humans.

Later that day, after we were both off work, I suggested to Eric that we go downtown and look in the gift shops.  I’d wanted to find an art piece or two that we could hang up in our future home to remind us of our time in Alaska.  We found three pieces of Tlingit art by a local artist, Israel Shotridge (his portfolio), that we both liked, especially the “Lovebirds,” a depiction of the two birds that are important in the Native Alaskans’ culture. 

Note from a tour guide:  In Tlingit culture, there are two main clans, eagle and raven.  They have a tradition that someone from one clan will always marry someone from the opposite clan to keep both clans going. 

Just as we were crossing the street to the parking garage where we had parked, an Allen Marine dock representative asked if we wanted to go on an evening whale watch.  That instant.  We jumped on the opportunity and hopped on the bus.  All the other passengers were already on board ready to go, so as we were getting to our seats, they all clapped for the apparent late-comers.  Eric, with his quick wit, told them all, “We’re on our honeymoon!” And their sarcastic clapping turned into “Ooh”s and “Aww”s.  He’s definitely taking advantage of our newlywed status; here, he was even able to change the whole mood of the bus. 

This guy.  So charismatic.

Evening whale watches (aka Evening Whale Quests) are normal whale watches but with a buffet on board.  A local hotel, The Baranof, catered the delicious meal of fruits and vegetables, a cheese platter, rolls, salmon mousse, brownies, roast beef, and reindeer sausage.  They also had complimentary hot drinks on board including hot chocolate!  I was a little excited about that.

Salmon mousse on a fancy salmon platter.

Brownies!  Almost gone.  Shows how good
they were.

Reindeer sausage with delicious peppers and onions.

Soon after we began eating, we had our first orca siting.  They captain and naturalist then dubbed (synonym) us into the “10% club,” saying that only 10% of tours get to see orcas.  Eric and I saw orcas on the whale watch we went on earlier in the season (post about that), so we get to be even more special and be in the 1% club. (I hope I did that math right.  My last statistics class was in 12^th grade.)

Killer whale.

Killer Eric.

Soon after the excitement with the orcas, the real fun began.  We saw humpback whales bubble netting several times throughout the trip.

Note from a tour guide:  Humpback whales are typically solitary animals.  The longest relationship they have is between a mother and calf, and that doesn’t last longer than a year.  But they break the lonely norm when they feed here in Southeast Alaska.  A group of whales will blow bubbles towards the surface of the water, trapping the small fish that they feed on (including heron and cod).  Then all at once, they’ll come up with their mouths wide open and feast on thousands of bubble-netted fish.  When it’s about to happen all the seagulls will flock to the spot on the surface of the water where the whales come up, so whale watching tours are usually bird watching tours too.

See the birds?

See the crazy canoers? 

These whales were so close to the boat!
They had to be within 50 feet. 

This picture gives you an idea of how massive they are.
Compare their tales to the canoe.

 This is how Eric and I were most of the whale watch:

Standing gallantly behind the captain's wheel.

A little more relaxed.

After the last bubble netting show, Eric and I headed back to our seats in the enclosed part of the boat and watching the whales prepare for deep dives into the water while showing off their tails.  Our conversation at that point went a little like this:

Me:  “Stop enjoying the whales and pull out your phone.” (Mine had died.)

Eric:  *rolls eyes and chuckles* “Are you still wanting to take pictures?”

Me:  “Ahhh!!! Ermergersh!!!”

Everyone else on the boat:  “Ahhh!!! Ermergersh!!!”

At this point, two humpback whales came all the way up out of the water and breached.  That's right. Not one.  Two!  And right next to each other as if they had planned it together!  Breaching is one of the rarest things to see on a whale watch.  Double breaching is a dream.

 

Holy.  Crap.

Holy flippin’ crap. 

And of course, Eric didn’t have his phone out.

I don’t know if I can ever forgive him. 

But a couple from Australia who were sitting nearby happened to get a shot of it.  I gave them my email address and asked for them to send the picture to me.  

Blurry...but still proof!

So yes, nature spoils me up here in Juneau, Alaska.  Days like that one make the whole summer worth it.

And someday I’ll find it in my heart to forgive Eric for not having his phone out and ready.  Maybe…

Photo Credits:

• Wikipedia