Day 30 – Thar’ She Blows!

Pat spotted a brochure the first time we were at the Whitehorse visitors center for a Fjord Ferry trip to Juneau that left out of Skagway. It sounded interesting, so we hung onto the flyer as we journeyed up to Tuktoyaktuk and the Arctic Ocean.

Weeks later when we did make our way down to Haines and Skagway, that flyer came out again and Pat checked into it further. The Juneau Fjord Express is a day long adventure which we were able to catch a ride on. We thoroughly enjoyed our day trip and will definitely take another ride, if we get the opportunity! It was well worth the cost.

We boarded the 65’ catamaran, Fjordland, in Skagway to travel the 90 miles on the Lynn Canal to Juneau. This waterway is part of the inside passage and is at the base of the Chilkat Mountain range. This is a gorgeous mountain range that appears to rise right out of the sea. They dwarf the towns, boats and lighthouses at their base. There were views of eagles that our captain, Glen, pointed out. The captain also described the waterfalls, geology, and glaciers as we zipped across the water.  He knew the places to visit where we would be likely to see marine wildlife. 

And wildlife we did see! There were Dall’s porpoises, sealions, and seals. And in some instances, they came to see us.

Our deckhand, Jessica, was so gracious whether she was handing out hot coffee and muffins in the morning, showing marine mammal identification charts, or taking photos for the passengers. She also brought around a seal hide after we had a close encounter with a group of seals on the rocks by the Eldred Rock Lighthouse. She and Captain Glen were great guides.

However, the highlight of the trip was getting to watch a pod of humpback whales when they were feeding. The excitement on the boat was palpable when the whale spouts were spotted a mile or more ahead of us.  The Fjordland joined other boats to witness what is called “bubble netting”. When we arrived, we could see and hear a group of whales surfacing and spouting. It was much louder than I had realized. Then we would see their flukes flip out of the water as the whales dove down.

Captain Glen came on deck and said he was dropping in a hydrophone to listen to the whales. He told us to watch the seagulls because they could see the action in the water. Pretty soon, we all heard a distinctive whale call that signaled the pod to go.

The birds swooped toward a spot on the water, and we suddenly saw the pod of whales come up from beneath with their mouths wide open to gather up the herring. Thousands of camera shutters began clicking away. Some of the photos I took show the baleen, which looks like hair, inside the whales’ mouths! What an amazing spectacle to watch.

Then the pod submerged to enjoy their meal. Again, we were able to watch them gracefully surfacing to breath and then with a flip of their flukes down they went again.  This feeding cycle was repeated several more times before we headed on our way to Juneau.

The captain described to us what we had just witnessed. The whales start to swim in a circular pattern underwater exhaling bubbles. Those bubbles direct small fish and krill toward the center. As the whales swim in smaller and smaller circles their prey are concentrated into a ball. At the signal by the whales, that we could plainly hear on the hydrophone, they all rose to the surface with their mouths wide open to gather up all that food. What a great show of teamwork!

Once we landed in Auke Bay, a bus drove us into Juneau where the passengers were able to spend several hours roaming around the town. Jessica had handed out maps to the city to aid in our exploration. We took advantage of the time to visit the Alaskan State Museum which had an amazing collection of items from several First Nation’s cultures, artifacts from the early seafaring era, a collection from WWII, and an exhibit of art created by local artists.

Since we had bit more time before boarding the bus that would take us back to the boat, we were able to sample some local fare. We had delicious fish tacos, fish & chips, and beer from a local brewery. Yum!

Little did we know when we boarded the Fjordland for our return trip that we would be privileged to watch the pod of whales bubble feed several more times! It was spectacular. 

As we made our return trip to Skagway, the sun was getting lower in the sky silhouetting the giant mountains. With a light spray misting the air, I reflected on the amazing day we had just had. What a beautiful world the Creator gave us to live in!

All in all, the Juneau Fjord Express was a great experience that we recommend to anyone who has a chance to travel to this part of the world. Whether or not you get to observe the whales feeding, there is a wonderful crew, a fast boat, and an amazing adventure awaiting you.