Whale Tales

We saw so many whales this season! We also had a few encounters that were too close.    


Humpbacks:
In Sitka Sound at the end of August there were humpback whales galore (at least 10 in one spot we passed thru). One surfaced in front of us as we were running and Doug had to throw us into reverse to miss it! I looked up to see what was happening (at Doug’s “holy shit”) and saw its tail right in front of the bow (no water between us and him). The next day while fishing in the Sound they were all around us. One crossed maybe 40 feet in front of us from the port side and as soon as it went under one came up not 10 feet off our starboard and crossed in front going the other direction. That one dove just after clearing our path and you could see its tail had been clipped, probably by a propeller as it is getting way too close to boats. It had surfaced just in front of our gear – if it had tangled in our lines it could have pulled us over and under!!
4 whales pass by

We saw numerous humpbacks in many other places as well. In Peril Strait we came across one sleeping on the surface. This was very cool but kind of worrisome as we passed close but he didn’t move - just drifted there. In calm water you can see them but not so much in rough seas. I have a better understanding now of the whale collisions in Santa Barbara channel.

Off of Kuiu Island in South Chatum we had a humpback lunge feeding behind us. It came up turned toward us on his side with a big open mouth, then gray side followed by the tip of his tail as he dove back down. There were also several in the area slapping their tails on the water. This is fun to see as the tail comes way up above the waves and comes slapping down. Then there is a slight delay before the sound carries and you hear the slap.

Breech
In Icy Strait in September we had a group hanging around where we were fishing and at one point all 6 of them started breeching – one after the other! It was early morning and flat seas so that was quite the sight! They looked a lot like the picture above of the whale statue in Juneau (my camera shot here doesn't do it justice).
More Breeching

Orcas:
We also had a pod of about a dozen Orcas swim all around the boat while fishing off of Yakobi Island. They scared away the fish but it was pretty cool to see them all around us and only about 30 feet from the boat! We saw the same pod the next day and they again swam right by the boat. In Chatum Strait later in the season we saw a huge bull Orca with a fin that towered 6’ above the waves!




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