Comps done and company in town

Dad and Barb at the Mendenhall glacier

I finished up my comprehensive exams about an hour after Dad and Barb pulled into town on the ferry.  By the time they unloaded and went to get gas, I was able to leave and meet them for a bit (it was about 10:30 pm at that point).  I was so excited to be done and have them in town I hardly slept Tuesday night (and it didn't help that my brain was still cranked up from the exams).

Salmon boats waiting for the opener near Amalga harbor

I took Wednesday and Thursday off to show them around town a bit.  Wednesday we went for a walk at the glacier, drove out the road a bit to the Shrine of St. Therese and Amalga harbor. The weather was really nice for the afternoon, so it was fun to be able to see the mountains and pink salmon jumping all over the place.

Chapel at St. Therese

Humpback whales feeding in Chatham Strait

Thursday we managed to get ourselves on a whale watching cruise for free (good to have friends in the biz!).  It was misting and gray when we left Auke Bay, but by the time the boat got to the western side of Admiralty Island (~30 min trip on the fast-moving boat) it was high clouds and some sun over there.  We saw three groups of humpbacks, and all were bubble net feeding - they dive down under a school of fish and use bubbles to herd them together, then they swim up into the school with their mouths open to scoop up the little fish.  It was incredible to see!  Even though the whales were close to shore, they were still in about 200 feet of water.  Where were were sitting and watching in the boat we were in about 2000 feet!  We spent about an hour watching the whales before heading back.  On the trip back to Auke Bay we paused to see some Steller sea lions hauled out on a channel marker. 
  

Humpback whales

Humpback whales

More bubble net feeding by humpback whales

Steller sea lions chillin out and being stinky.