Shiny Bubbles

 

After 7 days in Glacier Bay, we returned to Hoonah to take on water. We've never felt we needed a water maker on Iolair. We carry 150 gallons - plenty for 7 days, even 10. Crossing Icy Strait again, it was cold and misty. There was enough wind for some sailing, but as usual, it is either on the nose or on the tail. This time it was on the nose, that means tacking and a longer trip in the cold, wet air. We chose to get there quicker by motor while hiding under the dodger. Hoonah was easily 10 degrees warmer in the harbor and there wasn't a lick of wind. Felt great. We spent two nights restocking our supplies, water, and stopped by the fuel dock on our way out. By the time you add a few layover days, it's a fairly long trip to Sitka. The forecast looked perfect. 

We left around 11 AM to take advantage of  a flooding current in the Strait. Right after leaving the harbor we saw a pod of orcas, our first of this season. Just a few miles further was a cluster of whale watching boats. Everyone was treated to a show as a large humpback breached several times. A breaching whale is a spectacular sight. I'm not sure I know of another wildlife display that compares. The sea was flat and as we rounded into Chatham Strait we turned south. A couple of massive sea lions thrashed their catches at the surface. They basically knock them out before they feast. A whale blew between us and the shore just a 1/2 mile away.  Almost instantly there were a few more blows from other whales. We turned off the engine and waited. 

Soon we could see a circle of disturbed water on the surface, and then everything broke into spray, flukes, backs, fins, and finally a big gapping mouth as the whale in the center of the circle shot straight up and engulfed all the fish the whales had trapped in their circular bubble net. They all blew a few times as they rested and it all started over. They formed a line and speed up. Down they went at the same time, and we pictured them hundreds of feet deep in a tight circle. The bubbles and the whales work the school of fish upwards toward the surface. Right at the end of this orchestrated hunt, one or two whales shoot up through the bubble net with their mouths wide open. Everyone reaches the surface at the same time so no fish can escape. We drifted on the flat water in the sun, alone with the whales repeatedly doing their thing. 

The humpbacks may be our favorites, but our next encounter probably wins the most energetic and friendliest award. A few splashes around the boat made us wonder if we had a bow-wave surfer. A Dall porpoise traveled with us for almost a half hour. It would surf the wave, dive down under the boat, jump on the port side, maybe again on starboard, and then go back to the bow wave. Jay seemed to really like the porpoise. He would run back and forth and wag his tale. Whales always scare him. We think it is the sudden loud noise when they blow. He also likes to bark when people clap, so there you go. 

Into Freshwater Bay on Chichagof Island, we entered the anchorage in Pavlof Marine Park. Right after I took Jay to shore for a business trip, a Brown Bear came out on one end of the beach and started eating the young grass shoots on the beach. He was easily several hundred yards away and Jay never saw the bear. The next morning we saw another on the opposite beach. We named the bear Charley after a fellow sailor and new friend we meet in Hoonah. He told us we'd see the resident bear at Pavlof. Charley knows his stuff. 

Pavlof was a beautiful spot deserving more of our time, but we had a good weather window to travel so we pulled up anchor and headed to the historic community of Tenakee Springs.