Whale Encounter in Alaska

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Patty Smukall
“Enjoy a day aboard the Lu-Lu Belle”’ the sign read.  Little did I know that one day, on thismagnificent 70+ foot luxurious vessel,  venturing out into Prince William Sound, would my childhood dreams come true!  My childhood is when my fascination withcetaceans, whales, dolphins and porpoises, started but didn’t end.  My endless curiosity about these fascinatingcreatures continued into adulthood and throughout my life, leading me to pursuea degree in Zoology and a 10 year career at Sea World, working with marinemammals for most of it. This phase of my life gave me plenty of opportunitiesto observe, rescue and care for marine mammals of many types, mostly AtlanticBottlenose dolphins, manatees and sea lions. I participated in many necropsies over the years as Sea World at thattime was the leader in rescuing and rehabilitation of any marine mammals alongthe coast of central Florida.  I even planned my vacation around themigration of the California Grey Whales, and traveled to Californiato see them pass during their 6,000 mile round trip migration from the BeringSea to the lagoons of Baja, Mexico.
 But it was the bigones I longed to see, the majestic humpbacks, Megaptera novaeangliae, http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/cetaceans/humpbackwhale.htm  the ones famous for their songs that varyfrom group to group and change from year to year, just as our music changeswith the times.  These are the whalesthat are also known for their social behaviors, especially their“bubble-netting” , a feeding behavior which demonstrates their social abilityto communicate, coordinate their activities and even to take turns.   I know many adult Homo sapiens who have a very hard time with that lastrequirement!  Bubble-netting involvesthese foraging crustacean-eating giants to encircle their prey, which consistsmostly of tiny krill and copepods, and methodically exhale a net ofbubbles.  Little do these tinycrustaceans know that they can swim right through these bubbles!  By working in groups of 3 or more, allblowing bubbles underwater, the whales increase the efficiency of the huntingmethod.  The whales then take turns lungefeeding.  Lunge feeding involves liftingvertically out of the water with open mouths, through patches of unsuspecting,confused tiny invertebrates.  Theirexpandable throat grooves allow for the consumption of thousands of pounds ofkrill at a time. The krill is trapped on their flexible baleen plates, as theywater through the row of baleen and swollen the prey.  This ingenious, infallible system clearlydemonstrates their teamwork and intelligence.
It wasn’t until my own son, now a fisheries biologisthimself, living in Alaska,invited me up to visit, that I was given to opportunity to see these majesticgiants perform this and other behaviors. I enjoyed seeking out and observing all of the wildlife Alaska has to offer;bears, moose, salmon galore, herds of caribou and birds on their way to theirmigration destinations.  But in the backof my mind, I longed to see the whales Alaskais home to. 
I got my opportunity as we pulled in the quaint town of Valdez.  The rest of my group peered out the windows,looking for a “vacancy” sign at any of the handful of hotels.  This was, after all, the peak of the touristseason and all towns on the coast fill up during the summer due to the famousrun of the salmon. Fishing boats abounded, the smell of the sea surrounded usand no vacancies were apparent.  Then I sawit - a sign showing a humpback whale breaching, and claiming to be the bestwildlife viewing vessel in Valdez.It was larger than life, at least to me and there was no stopping me, depletedbudget or not, I was sold.
 Glacier WildlifeCruises prides itself on taking their time to ensure that its passengers enjoythe wildlife available and a close-up view of the Columbia Glacier.  The cruise is scheduled to last from 5/12 to 7 hours, depending on what is seenalong the way.   However,  Captain Fred Rodolf, owner of the Lu-LuBelle, a mighty vessel http://www.lulubelletours.com/, has been cruising Prince William Sound since 1979 and his in his personalstyle, narrates during the entire cruise, sharing his knowledge of the area andthe abundance of wildlife it treasures. Captain Rudolf himself restored his yacht, one of the most beautiful in Alaska, and is at thehelm for every one of its enlightening cruises. He believes in staying out on the Sound until its passengers have hadthe chance to take in and take photos of what they sought out to see.  In my case, it was whales.
Find whales we did, but along the way, we were treated to anarray of nature’s miracles.  Before weever left the small boat harbor in Valdez,we saw rafts of sea otters floating and shielding their pups. http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/sea-otter   As we entered the magnificent Prince William Sound, Steller’s Sea Lions, rested on the buoys. This was nothing compared tothe hundreds of them in rookeries we passed along the shoreline.  These pinnipeds http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/pinnipedsare an on-going conservation success story, still recovering from decades ofover-harvesting, and to see them fighting for space on the shore, ready tobreed and add to the next generation literally brought tears to my eyes.  As we looked carefullyup at the cliffs above these rookeries, we saw puffins nesting in the cracksand crevices.
Going further out to see, we were accompanied by schools ofDall’s Porpoises, Phocoenoides dalli, http://dallsporpoise.org/index.php trying to catch a ride on our bow wake.  This, of course delighted the passengers,especially the children onboard.  Butwhere were the whales, the big humpbacks I had hoped for?  Many onboard were excited to see the small,immature Gray Whale, Eschrichitus robusus,http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/cetaceans/graywhale.htmdetected and pointed out by no other than my son I have to say.  Exciting? Yes.  Was it capable of taking my breath away?  No. This was awesome but I wasn’t asimpressed as some, since I had seen lots of bigger, mature grey whales off thecoast of California.
Then it happened!  Inthe distance Capt. Fred saw a pod of Humpbacks, and slowly, ever so quietlyapproached them, carefully keeping a respectful distance.  They were feeding and diving, presentingthose incredible 10 foot wide tail flukes that scientists use to identify eachone.  The scars, markings, and patternsare unique to each one of them, just as our fingerprints are unique to us.  Through my tear-filled eyes I was witnessingwhat I had been waiting all of my life for; seeing the playful antics of a reallive baleen whale enjoying life in its own natural world! One of these giantsmust have been sent from heaven to amuse us and fulfill my dream, because aftera few minutes of watching 40+ people scramble from one side of the boat to theother every time he moved, he decided to put on a spectacle all of us willnever forget.  He slowly wandered awayfrom the rest of the pod, and proceeded to perform all of the visible behaviorsthat I teach my Marine Biology students in class every year.  There were the tail lobs (lobbing the tail inthe air and slapping the flukes on the surface), fluking (raising its tailbefore a dive), pec-slaps (lying on its side or back, hitting the surface withits flippers known as pecs) and the spy hopping (raising the head out of thewater to expose the eyes and take a look around).  Then, as I stood there on the most forwardpart of the boat (yes,  the part LeonardoDicaprio hung over in the Titanic),thinking life just can’t get any better than this, this gorgeous 12+ meterHumpback Whale repeated breached before my eyes.  I was so awestruck by all of this, I had noteven taken one picture, but that’s ok because the images are all foreverengrained in my heart.