Fall Whale Watching 2009
September 14


Whale diving, Taku Inlet and Devil's Paw in the background

I've waxed rhapsodic in many trip reports about September--glorious fall days of flat calm water, stark yellow sunshine, crisp air, and whales.  Monday September 14 was such a day, one of many we had in September following a remarkably sunny summer.  At lunch, I suggested to Chris that we take advantage of the sunshine after work in some way and he suggested whale watching.  So we headed out around 5:00 down the channel, the sun glazing through a few hazy clouds behind Admiralty.  I was heading for the area between Grand Island and Admiralty Island where the Stephen's Passage Group-Up of humpback whales often makes an appearance, and is about as far away as I can travel in the fall after work.  We first spotted a single whale near the Admiralty shore, then a pair nearby.  The low light dramatically illuminated their blows in the cold air.  The pair of whales headed north and we followed, the third whale joining them at a slight distance.  The sun was low enough that half the channel was cold and dark and we were happy when the whales moved into sunnier waters.  We casually watched them and were rewarded with several close passes while shut down, munching on jojos, fried chicken, and Pacifico beer for dinner.  A few times while they were down we heard strange bubbling noises, but couldn't see anything, nor did the hydrophone reveal anything further.  The views around us were lovely in all directions, glassy water and pale mountains fading into the distance.  Looking up Taku Inlet, Devil's Paw jutted above the ice field circled in its own small clouds 8,800 feet high.  My goal became to take photos of the whales with Devil's Paw behind and I'm fairly pleased with the way they turned out.  As the afternoon wore on, the mountaintops turned pink and we eventually turned back to town, leaving the whales north of Grand Island to feed.  The sunset on the way home was spectacular and we pulled into the harbor, thoroughly chilled, near dark.

Sun over Admiralty	Grand Island from the north	Whale diving
Taku Inlet behind	Looking south down Stephen's Passage	Taku Inlet behind the pair
Whales and pink mountains	Flukes	Pink mountains along Taku Inlet
North up Stephen's Passage	Gastineau Channel	Juneau at sunset

Icy blow off Admiralty