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Leaving Ford’s Terror, and Humpbacks All Day

Airship Goes to Alaska

Quiet morning in Ford's Terror:

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Also, another black bear on shore (taken from Airship):

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We left Ford's Terror at the first high tide (about 20 minutes after high slack in Juneau, and there was just a little bit of current at the pinch point as we came out).

Fissures in the steep cliffs on our way out:

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This water!

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The narrow spot, looking pretty calm:

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Deke had his GoPro on the bow and has been recording a bunch of video for time lapse…we'll be posting that later on after he has a chance to do some video editing.

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Looking back at the "terror":

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What a fabulous experience, being in this remote spot for two nights…definitely one of the highlights of this trip.

Back out in Endicott Arm we saw what looked like a very strange rock (one that didn't look like any other rocks around it on land)….turns out it was not a rock at all, but a dirty iceberg!

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Glacier on our way back out into Stephens Passage:

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We decided to go all the way to Kake today, for some internet and cell service. On the way to Kake as we approached Kupreanof Island, we started seeing humpbacks. We saw more humpbacks than we could even count. Deke put the GoPro out on the bow and got some good video while we hung out and watched them. (Just above Deke's hat…that's a whale.)

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Mama and baby humpback were super cute.

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We got to see our first breach (by the baby!) I wasn’t fast enough to get the full out-of-the-water shot, but you get the idea:

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I tried to narrow down the photos and only keep the best ones, but there are still a lot of whale photos. So here you go, people who asked for more whale photos. 🙂

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SO. MANY. HUMPBACKS!

8 Comments

  1. Howdy! Been reading EVERY post and loving what you are writing. Just curious how cold it is there and how many hours of daylight you’re getting.

    • Thanks Rod! So glad you’re enjoying the posts. It hasn’t been very cold at all. We’ve only turned on the heater twice at night so far in the last two weeks. Sunrise is around 4am and sunset is around 10pm. So….lots of daylight!

  2. What an expertly designed tail fin those whales have… a perfect hydrodynamic means of propulsion for such a huge body mass. And, on the 4th from the last photo, I assume those are blow holes. I never realized there were three…
    I am Riveted by your journey and photos.
    Thanks for sharing it,
    Box Canyon Mark

    • Yes, I love that I captured that blowhole! I didn’t know there were three openings either, but that’s what it looks like!

  3. Janna Clark Janna Clark

    I cannot tell you guys how much we are enjoying your blog and photos! I’ve gone back and read many of your past blogs. Thanks for helping keep us cool while we are sweltering in the heat wave moving through Montana!

    • Thank you so much, Janna! We are having SUCH a fantastic trip. Happy to have so many others enjoying it along with us! 🙂

  4. Sandy Lowery Sandy Lowery

    I am a new subscriber from Vancouver island and so glad that I was directed to your blog. I am really enjoying it and the pictures are wonderful. i wonder how loud the crash was when that big ice burg “calved”. Would have been a sight to see.

    • Thanks Sandy, glad to have you along! I’ve heard them calve before and it’s LOUD! 🙂

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