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| Iconic Southeast Alaska sunset. Photo: P Goldstein |
2019: A Season to Celebrate
Southeast Alaska
Alaska - Land of the Midnight Sun. Although Bluewater Adventures doesn't travel
far enough north to experience round the clock sunshine, this itinerary is no
less spectacular. One thing that we have learned over the many years exploring
this coast is that seasons bring similar patterns in coastal wildlife viewing, but
you can never count on it being the same.
This year, Frederick Sound was off the "bubble-net
feeding charts" with many experiences of the co-operative feeding
technique used by only some humpback whales. Biologists believe that
bubble-net feeding is a "learned behaviour".
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| Humpback whales bubble-net feeding in Southeast Alaska. Photo: P Goldstein |
One departure hosted a photo group from the UK and the
planets aligned with wonderful weather, calm waters and once in a lifetime
photographic opportunities. Like they say - "pictures say a thousand words" -
thanks to Paul Goldstein (@paulgoldstein) for
this collection!
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| Black bear closeup at Anan Creek Wildlife Observatory. Photo: P Goldstein |
It was a dry start to July with salmon arriving to spawn and
some rivers too shallow to navigate. This can all change in an afternoon of
heavy rain - which it did, prompting the bears to arrive with serious
appetites. Overall, Southeast Alaska saw a very strong pink salmon run and the
bears at both Anan Creek and Pack Creek clearly reaped the rewards.
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| A coastal wolf "allows" us to observe it. A rare and welcomed sight. Photo: P Goldstein |
Southeast Alaska remains as one of our most prolific
wildlife expeditions with outstanding scenery from tidewater glaciers to
emerald-green grottoes. Sunsets that change your surroundings to an
other-worldly, hot pink has to be experienced to be truly understood.
