Icy Strait Point in the morning…
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| Icy Strait Point, Hoonah |
A highlight of our trip was seeing humpback whales feeding at Icy Strait. Wow!! What an unforgettable experience.
Not just one or two whales, but dozens of them. Totally unbelievable! It was a sight I’ve seen on TV, but never dreamed would see with my own eyes.
We took a small boat out to Icy Strait hoping to see a few whales here and there spouting water and diving for food.
Twenty minutes into the trip, whales were spotted gracefully gliding through the water, coming up for air, diving for food, just as we had hoped…
…but more and more started to appear…
Soon, we were surrounded by whales. They were everywhere, 360 degrees around us. Dozens of them. The scene was impossible to catch on camera. Everywhere you looked whales were surfacing, spouting water and diving again. Our guide estimated we saw around 68 whales. Truly amazing, awe-inspiring.
For moments, everyone stood statue silent, jaws dropped, soaking in the majesty, the grandeur, the peace, the activity, the grace of it all. Each of us knew we’d probably never experience anything like it again.
The whales were not concerned about us. They continued about their business, feeding, playing, sounding and swimming so elegantly so beautifully.
And then breaches! What fun! Whales have fun. You could see it in their actions.
A few were playing amongst themselves at one time. They have a humorous side to them, a playful attitude that yearns to delight in life and enjoy the good with each other.
Thousands of pictures were snapped on the boat that afternoon, but very few caught a breach. It’s about impossible to know where the next breach will happen. But amazingly, Kathy caught part of one with her camera.
She had many opportunities because whales were breaching all around us, but at totally unexpected times and unexpected places. A couple of whales breached within a hundred feet of our boat. Talk about awesome! Takes your breath away!
It was fun to watch sea lions at play, too, around the boat. They seemed to delight in putting on a show.
You are capturing the essence of Alaska with your blog….the beauty, the majesty, the grandness, the sheer bigness of it–lived there for 13 years…and once you have seen Alaska, every other spot on earth is pale in comparison. Thank you for the wonderful journey with you…
Thanks for sharing, Evan! This is wonderful and definitely inspires me all the more to travel and see more of God’s infinite ideas!!!!! I am so grateful … humbled, by your post and the inevitable unfoldment and revelation of our spiritual perfection!!! Thanks!