Humpbacks!

Heading north up the Lynn Canal towards Berners Bay, AK.

I know I keep saying this, but this may be the coolest, most awesome thing I've gotten to do since we moved to AK (pretty soon the bar is going to be so high I'll never be able to say that again).  I'm so  bummed Steve was still in Wisconsin for this!  For the incredible price of $25 (student discount!) I got to go on the Audubon Society's annual Berners Bay cruise.  It's a four-hour trip, heading north from Juneau to Berners Bay and back (we hiked out to the bay a couple of weeks ago).  The total distance to the bay is about 45 miles each way.  Along the way the naturalists pointed out some of the sea birds we passed (boring to me, but others on board were digging it). 

Fellow student checking out the birds.

We stopped for a bit to observe a Steller sea lion haul out (where they come to shore to rest and who knows what else).  There were so many!  And they are really loud, making a grunty sound.  I bet if we were close enough they would stink too.

According to the naturalists, the female steller sea lions can weigh 800-1200 pounds, and males are anywhere from 1200-2500 pounds!  He also said in his years working as a naturalist he's seen them be pretty playful - tossing fish in the air and taunting the sea birds with them.  If you look closely in this picture (below) you can see all the sea lions are looking at a juvenile bald eagle that's landed on the rocks above them. 

Whales!  There were maybe 10-15 humbacks in and around the bay.  It's right about the time of year when the eulachon (pronounced "u-la-con") are spawning and the whales, sea lions, and birds are feasting.  I couldn't believe how close the whales were to shore!  Some looked like they were only 10-20 feet off the beach.  Amazing.

This week's forecast is for sunny and warm weather (into the 70s!).  I am going to try really hard to get my finals done and turned in today or tomorrow so I can play hooky and go for a hike!