ICY STRAIT WHALE WATCHING

Our next stop was Hoonah, a small Indian settlement in the middle of Icy Strait, an area rich in marine life. We had luckily booked a small company to take us whale watching with a money back guarantee. Nothing could have prepared us for what was in store as we joined our guide Floyd on his small boat.

Cruising along the shoreline, he could spot a grizzly bear from a mile away and we cruised in close to shore to see them feeding on berries. This occured several times on the way out and in. He also found a seal colony where we saw a rare albino harbour seal. Next was a colony of sea lions who swam along with us as we headed for where Floyd hoped the whales would be.

Sure enough we spotted the whale's spouts in the distance and as we came closer saw 5 or 6 humpback whales feeding. After a few minutes Floyd spotted a bigger pod a mile or 2 away and we motored after them. This was a much larger pod of adults and juvenile whales feeding and playing. As we pulled near the pod a large whale came vertically out of the water and eyeballed us. Tracy got so excited we all thought she was going to jump overboard. For over an hour we had the pod breaching, diving and rolling around us. The sea lions, who usually follow whales to scavenge left over herrings, also joined in the fun, diving and playing with the whales. Floyd also had an underwater microphone which he put in the water so we could hear the whales "talking" to each other.