Juneau

Mendenhall Glacier with waterfall

June 12, and we woke up in Juneau. We booked the Photography Whale Watch and Mendenhall Glacier tour through the ship, and we met on the dock at 7:35a. We had a group of 11, which is probably as big as the group can get, since the boat is so small. We had an awesome morning! I had never heard of bubble-net feeding, but the whales did it for the first time that season the morning we were there. Our guides said it only happens in Juneau. One whale goes below a school of fish (herring) and starts circling and blowing bubbles, driving the fish into a tighter formation.  He slowly forces them near the surface, and then on a signal all the whales dive toward the center at the same time with their mouths open. They hold the fish in their mouths as they swirl the water out through their baleen. Then they swallow them a couple at a time since they have very narrow throats. From our point of view, it looks like a whale ballet or synchronized swimming, it was amazing. 

Bubble net feeding. The ferry riders had a spectacular view.

After hanging out there for about 30 minutes (federal regulations), we headed out to Skull Island to see some eagles and bowling balls (harbor seals). We saw another couple of whales on the way back to the pier. 

Two curious bowling balls (seals) check us out.

There were dozens of eagles on Skull Island.

Our pretty harbor.

We then headed off to Mendenhall Glacier via a nature trail. They gave us a small snack, which consisted of peanuts, granola bars, fruit leather, a peppermint patty and water. Our guide Kenneth is a graduate of the Brooks Institute, and he had really great photography advice for us. He showed us some of his photos on a monitor on the van; he’s really good. As we walked along the trail, he told us what to look for as far as composition, lighting, contrast, etc. 

Our group hiking near Mendenhall Glacier.

I wasn’t expecting much from Mendenhall after seeing Glacier Bay, but the glacier was incredible.  Since it was overcast, the blues were very intense.  The waterfall to the right is pretty incredible as well.  There are several vantages from which to take photos; we walked down to the beach and took some shots from there. We then climbed up on a small hill to get some shots of the lake with all the icebergs in it. They had us back in town around 1:00p, and they dropped the others off at the ship.

Having a professional photographer as your guide
comes in handy.

Mendenhall close up.

We shopped as we walked back to the ship, a lot of the stores had the same stuff we’d seen in Skagway. The same jewelry stores we see in the Caribbean. I still managed to spend way too much. The setting for Juneau is spectacular, it’s right against the mountains, and is in an avalanche zone. It was so beautiful as we sailed away.

Juneau is gorgeous!

The view from our balcony. That
little red dot is the tram.

Some of you have asked about our cabin on the
bump out.  This picture kind of shows how unobstructed
the view is looking forward.  There's nothing in the way!

Tomorrow - Ketchikan!