Whale watching in January

On MLK day, we headed out the road to see what we could see. We debated taking skis. We debated going for a hike. But in the end, we decided to just go for a ride. Of course, at the last second I snatched up the binoculars - just in case there were birds.

As we passed the pull-out near the Shrine, I spotted a humpback spout and dorsal fin, "whale!" I said. Mr. X turned the car around and we spent the next 10 minutes watching the whale and accompanying birds and porpoises work the water, moving farther and farther from us.

I've never seen such a dramatic multi-species feeding before. The water was roiling and Mr. X said he saw a porpoise leap clear out of the water. After a few minutes of frenzy, the whale would dive and the other animals would disappear under the water. A few minutes later the the animals would reappear and the whale would surface. There likely were birds, porpoises, sea lions and a lone whale (maybe Spot?) - probably because all the whales with any sense are in the warm waters of Hawaii breeding.

I've heard of birds following whales around, but never seen something like this. There must have been a good number of small fish/herring that either the porpoises or whale were herding to the surface and everyone was having a good time of it.  

We congratulated ourselves on our free whale watching trip...until the caliper on the left front side seized up and we needed a second brake job in less than eight months.

Fireside chat: Lituya Bay

photo from amazon.com

We have been hitting the Forest Service Lectures this winter. The best so far - record breaking in fact - was the Lituya Bay Lecture by Lynn Schooler. I've read his book, The Blue Bear, and was excited for this opportunity to hear about his new book, Walking Home and the megatsunami at Lituya Bay. Mr. X had heard from some old timers about this incredible place, but Lynn did a remarkable job of describing the bay - reading from his book and using a map and photographs to set the scene.

We arrived 45 minutes early for the lecture and still had to sit in the overflow. We sat by some coworkers of Mr. X and they told us about how dangerous the bar is into the bay. Apparently when the 7 mile x 9 mile bay empties with the tide, it rushes out of a very narrow bar and there are rapids 1/4 mile into the ocean. The visitor's center filled up and Lynn knowing there were many people out in the lobby asked us to "Yee-haw" if we could hear him okay. The place roared.

And then Lynn started telling the story of the bay, the 7.9 1958 earthquake, 1700' high tsunami and the people who survived the wave in the bay. It was chilling and thrilling. Quite the night.

At the end, Lynn played for us a recording of the radio traffic the night of the July 9, 1958, including the urgent Howard G. Ulrich who says that he needs to exit the bay immediately fearing that a second tidal wave may strike and thinking the world is coming to an end.

Ice rescue

Saturday we headed back out to the Glacier visitor center for a lecture and demonstration on ice rescues. Our favorite naturalist at the Glacier told us that every weekend someone falls through the ice on the lake. The fire department was on hand to provide a lecture, video and DEMONSTRATION! They discussed all cold water immersions and it reminded my fall through the ice sheet on the muskeg. The main points were these: 1) If you go through the ice, turn around and try to get out from the side you came in - 'cause you were just walking on it. 2)Don't panic. The gasp reflex will make you breathe as if you are hyperventalating, your breathing will return to normal in 1 - 2 minutes. 3) Put your arms on the ice and kick with your feet to push yourself up. 4) Roll when you get back on the ice. Then crawl to distribute your weight. 5) If assisting others: call 911, reach to them with a stick, ladder, shovel, etc.; if that fails,throw something with inflation to them (i.e. spare tire, sled). 6) consider buying or making ice awls for a self-rescue if you often walk or bike on ice. We then trouped outside to see the rescue demonstrations in a pond that had had a hole cut with a chainsaw. The firefighter showed us three different rescues: self-rescue with ice awls, rescue with inflation sled, and firefighter rescue of unresponsive victim. photos here: http://www.adn.com/2014/01/14/3272982/alaskans-shown-what-to-do-if-they.html

Fireside lecture: Polar Bears in the Chukchi Sea

Friday's date night was to the Forest Service fireside lecture. I was looking forward to the oreos and hot chocolate. Mr. X helped set up chairs in the overflow...where we usually end up sitting. It was a full house.

This week's topic was Polar Bears in Alaska's Chukchi Sea: Climate Change and Conservation. I was very interested to hear this lecture because in 2013, the media said that the findings of a small study showed that the Chukchi polar bears were benefiting from reduced sea ice. The presenters were Eric Regehr and Kim Titus, two of the researchers that worked on the study. Their slideshow was fantastic; they had so many pictures of polar bears and seals. They also showed us that while the Chukchi bear numbers are not declining consistent with North Slope bears, they have not yet experienced a the same level of ice free days. Chukchi polar bears have long benefited from the nutrient dense Chukchi sea and therefore, are bigger, heavier and more fertile than the North Slope bears.

Mr. X says that these researchers sure hit the biology major/research funding lottery by studying an iconic animal that is impacted by climate change, rather than say...mule deer or cougars.

Definitely a nice night out.

Alaska day

October 18th is Alaska day. I celebrated by going to the Berry Patch cabin at Eagle beach. Mr. X was sick with a cold and had a presentation for work the next Tuesday so he opted to stay home in bed. Friday was a rainy day. I packed up some books, a camp chair and some goodies. I chose not to overachieve by cooking pizza over the campfire or haul the gear for dutch oven cooking and instead just have a nice relaxing day.

At the cabin, shortly after I'd burned through all my t.p. trying (and failing) to light the oil stove, I noticed that there were a dozen seals playing in the river just in front of the cabin. So I sat on the porch and watched them leaping out of the water, throwing their flippers in the air. I then turned my attention to my book and heating water for my hot cocoa. Only the best. Double chocolate with marshmallows.

An hour later I realized the rain had truly stopped so I decided to take the little loop trail from the Eagle beach campground to the Eagle glacier trail and around the backside of the Methodist camp. Mr. X made sure I took the bear spray when I left the house, but I forgot to take it on my hike. Biologists are saying that most bears are denned up already, so the precaution was mostly for human encounters...since the only people I saw all day were moms with toddlers, I'm pretty sure, it was okay the spray stayed in the cabin.

Almost directly behind the Methodist camp I found this toadstool. It was about ten inches in diameter and I was amazed that no one had come and crushed it yet.

I walked through the muskeg on the planked trail loving the red and orange colors of the grasses, the green and gray witch's beard hanging from the trees and the misty fog floating low in the sky. A perfect mix of fall. I crossed the highway back to the park and saw three eagles fighting for dominance; the two juveniles had to give up their perch. A couple of grebes paddled their way against the river current.

After my hike, I popped up some corn only to run out of stove fuel which meant that those chocolate covered graham crackers weren't going to be s'mores. When it got too dark to read my book, I packed my bags and headed for the car, satisfied with my trip "out-of-town".

You might live in Juneau if...

Bears in three parts:

1) traffic stops - not for a crossing guard in the middle school crosswalk - but for a law abiding bear. Traffic was slow, but busy in the school zone as it always is at this time of day, and I expected to see 6th graders in the street, but instead got a good look at a loping black bear. The students appeared unfazed as they waited their turn for the crosswalk. Not sure I'd be that cool about a bear trotting towards me.

2) On Saturday evening, while watching a wildlife video about the great salmon run (BBC's Natures Great Events), I hear the garbage can go clunk. I peek out the window and see a bear rump less than two feet away. When the can didn't yield it's goods, he was off to somewhere else.

3) In the news: http://www.kinyradio.com/juneaunews/latest_juneau_news.html Bear looking for night cap in Juneau bar JUNEAU, Alaska (AP & KINY) — If only all unwelcome bar guests were this obliging. A black bear walked into the bar at the Alaskan Hotel in downtown Juneau on Monday night. Bartender Ariel Svetlik-McCarthy says she freaked out and yelled, "No bear! Get out! No! You can't be in here!" The bear complied, leaving the bar within seconds. State biologist Ryan Scott says it's rare for black bears to go inside Juneau businesses, but they have wandered inside homes before. One wandered in to Auke Bay Elementary School a couple of weeks ago after classes had concluded for the day.

Blackerby Ridge

After hitting the Labor day sales at Fred Meyer, Mr. X and I decided to take a hike. Mr. X called B and we settled on Blackerby ridge for the day. After lunch we set off on the trail.

Despite the rainy weather we had the previous days, the trail was in pretty good shape through the woods. We took our time, talking and sharing movie recommendations. At one rotten tree on which we were marvelling at the pumpkin colored fungus, we were greeted by a short-tailed weasil. This little guy was orange brown with a buff underside. He zipped around investigating who we were and what we were doing. Mr. X says he was saying, "I can take you!"

We finally broke out of the trees and trudged out way through the now trail with stream running through it. Mr. X and B stopped to eat blueberries. We then crossed a mushy meadow and climbed some more elevation to a drier meadow. We sat down for a rest and a spruce grouse flew up next to us. After checking us out she proceeded to eat blueberries within 6 feet of us. They aren't called fool hens for nothing.

We hiked up the trail another 100 feet and then sat down for a luxurious dinner with ptarmigan glacier behind us and the Mendenhall wetlands, Auke Bay and Lemon Creek area below. We had a cheese and apple plate, cracked pepper trisuits, chocolate and nuts, Chicken and rice, Chicken ala king and the thing keeping us going through out - red vines. B did some after dinner entertainment - reading Ender's Game.

On the way down the mountain we stopped and picked some blueberries. They were nicely sun ripened and although the easiest spots were picked over, the hardest spots to reach still had large berries, just waiting to be picked. We filled my nalgene bottle. And Sunday I made blueberry muffins to share at a potluck dinner.