7/30/2014 (cont.)

We also saw a lot of other stuff yesterday...the whales were the thing that seemed the coolest though.  On the way to Juneau, the scenery was as amazing as the rest of the 49th state.  It seems the whole state has these majestic mountains that are snow covered at what is now the end of July and are shrouded in fog a lot. The ride we took was about 2.5 hours each way, not counting the stops for pictures...very fun ride

The boat dropped us off at a bus about 10 miles north of Juneau.  We piled on and rode the bus to downtown Juneau, dropped right in front of the cruise ships (4 of them) anchored at the dock.  We were hungry, so we walked across the street to the Red Dog Saloon, been there since 1902 supposedly.  We had some lunch and then Barb & I did a little shopping and then took the tram to the top of Mt. Roberts for a view of the city & Gastineau Channel.  Then it was back on the bus for a ride to Mendenhall Glacier.  We had an hour there and then back on the bus for the ride back to Haines.

When we got back, I went & rinsed the mud off the car and then 4 of us drove towards Skagaway to see if there was any bears prowling the creeks...no luck.  We stopped and had a pizza and came home to get some sleep.  It has been another amazing day.

Steve & Barb Larson

Our boat is on the right with 4 windows

Lots of sea lions

Some of the beauty along the way

Old lighthouse

Water falls everywhere

This was our boat name...they did a great job

Watching us unload

The city of Juneau from Mt Roberts

Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau

Neptune Falls

Glaciers galore

Sea lions napping

Back at Haines Harbor

7/30/2014

We took a boat on an excursion from Haines to Juneau on one amazing day.  On the way back, we came across a group of 12 or more Humpback Whales doing a rarely seen feeding practice called 'bubble netting' and is described here:

Feeding and predation[edit]

A group of 15 whales bubble net fishing near Juneau, Alaska

Humpback whale lunging in the center of a bubble net spiral.

A whale off Australia on the spring migration, feeding on krill by turning on its side and propelling through the krill

Humpbacks feed primarily in summer and live off fat reserves during winter.^[33] They feed only rarely and opportunistically in their wintering waters. The humpback is an energetic hunter, taking krill and small schooling fish such as Atlantic herring, Atlantic salmon,capelin, and American sand lance, as well as Atlantic mackerel, pollock, and haddock in the North Atlantic.^[34][35][36] Krill and copepodshave been recorded as prey species in Australian and Antarctic waters.^[37] Humpbacks hunt by direct attack or by stunning prey by hitting the water with pectoral fins or flukes.

A humpback straining water through its baleen after lunging.

The humpback has the most diverse feeding repertoire of all baleen whales.^[38] Its most inventive technique is known as bubble net feeding; a group of whales swims in a shrinking circle blowing bubbles below a school of prey. The shrinking ring of bubbles encircles the school and confines it in an ever-smaller cylinder. This ring can begin at up to 30 metres (98 ft) in diameter and involve the cooperation of a dozen animals. Using acrittercam attached to a whale's back, researchers found that some whales blow the bubbles, some dive deeper to drive fish toward the surface, and others herd prey into the net by vocalizing.^[39] The whales then suddenly swim upward through the "net", mouths agape, swallowing thousands of fish in one gulp. Plated grooves in the whale's mouth allow the creature to easily drain all the water initially taken in.

A study published in the April 26, 2013 issue of Science documents a new form of bubble-net feeding called lobtail feeding among a population of whales in the Northern Atlantic Ocean. This technique involves the whale slapping the surface of the ocean with his tail between one and four times before creating the bubble net.^[40] Using network-based diffusion analysis, the authors argue that the whales in this group learned the behavior socially from other whales in the group over a period of 27 years in response to a change in the primary form of prey.^[41]

We saw this happening 4 times in a 30 minutes period...amazing!!  Here are a few of my pictures:

This has been one amazing trip!!

7/29/2014

We arrived in Haines, AK a little while ago.  What a very cool 3 days it has been.  We drove from Fairbanks to Tok, AK, 202 miles on the Richardson Hwy. except the last few miles on the Alaska Hwy. and all on a  pretty good road.  A momma & baby moose ran in front of us just out of Fairbanks...keeps you alert.  When we got to Tok, we fueled up the MH and got a free wash with it.  We washed 4 at the time and when we went to park, a lever that extends the steps on our coach failed, broken after 14+ years of faithful service.  So we went to our driver's meeting knowing we had another minor problem to remedy.

The next morning we pulled out onto the Alaska Hwy headed south on a 142 mile trek to Beaver Creek, Yukon Territory.  The folks headed north had warned us about the condition of the road...'74 miles of mud & stones' was one description.  It wasn't quite that bad but it was an adventure anyway.  Upon arrival at a pretty nice campground in the middle of nowhere, we all set up and then something cool happened.  Usually, everyone gets stuck at their camper for one reason or another.  This time we were all sort of in a circle, so everyone stood around and everyone started talking in two big groups, the ladies in one group and the men in another.  The ladies seemed to be having a very good time, but so did the guys.  This went on for about an hour or more...fun times.  Then we all sat down, all 48 folks and had a home cooked meal, beef & chicken and the fixings, done by the owners of the campground.  After a very good dinner, we had our drivers meeting around a big campfire along the Alaska Hwy.  Some of us stayed after the meeting and had a nice time telling stories & listening to music.  It was a very fun evening.  Barb & I were the last couple to turn in...imagine that.

Then this morning, we all drove from Beaver Creek to Haines, AK, 295 miles of really bad roads for the first half and pretty decent roads from Haines Jct. to Haines.  The scenery improved a lot the 2nd half along with the roads.  And along the way, we saw 8 bears, 4 adults and 4 cubs.  That is the most we have seen in one day on the entire trip.

So we have passed from Alaska to Yukon to British Columbia to Alaska in the last 3 days, two Border crossings, 2 clock changes, numerous mountains, lots of lakes and lots of wildlife.  It has been a fun time. We have one more crossing back into Canada before we cross back into the US for the final time.

We have a lot going on here tonight & tomorrow, including a boat ride to Juneau and back tomorrow, they keep us entertained.

Steve & Barb Larson

Moose crossing!

Another close-up of the Alaska Pipeline

Been to both ends of the Alaska Highway

The north end of Alcan can be a cold place

Real sized Skeeters

One of the many bridges on Alcan

Welcome to Yukon

Welcome to Canada

This doesn't happen often...7 of us following the pilot car

The scenery along the way

1st bear of the day

Bear #2

These little guys were every where

Bears #3, 4 & 5

Bears #6, 7 & 8