Juneau: Cruising the inside passage Pt 2
The area around the visitor centre is green and lush. There is the lake with it's small floating bergs and surrounding coniferous forest. A small green beaver pond, complete with dam, sits beside one of the viewing centres. The white head of an eagle is spotted on the top of a tree. Cameras click The scene is spectacular with the green of new growth, the milky blue of the lake and the awesome river of thunder. The glaciers were so named by the Indians because of the continuing loud sound of cracking ice as they are being pushed forward and the thunderous retort, when calving takes place.
It is raining lightly as we leave this area but no one seems bothered by this. We continue on our way to the waters of Auk Bay, where the modern sightseeing vessel the MV St. Micheal awaits our arrival. All the boats in the fleet have saint's names.
We meet the Captain, naturalist and friendly crew and after being shown safety measures, we head out into Stephens Passage, toward Lynn Canal in search of wildlife. Before we even leave the dock we see the now familiar white heads of many eagles in the trees, overhead and on the rocky shores. A very short time later we spot the mist of a blowing humpback whale. " Thar she blows!" One after another whales are spotted in the distance. Everyone is excited as we see them arch then fluke and dive.
Then to our surprise, we see two whales that seem to be following one another. They are coming toward the boat. What a fantastic sight!. First we see the hump, then the arch then the fluke, as one dives and seconds later the second follows. This happens over and over again. Everyone on the ship is excited by this show, including the naturalist who says this is very unusual, as these whales tend to be solitary. It is a terrific photo opportunity and many of us take advantage of it, without disturbing the whales. Humpback whales reach lengths from 45 to 50 feet and weigh from 25 to 45 tons. They are on the endangered list.When they
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