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The coast of Alaska

We've been without internet access for awhile now.  However we've had encounters with bears, lots of eagles and whales!  The weather has continued sunny and mild . . . until today when the rains began!  We are in Juneau, Alaska.  I've lost track of how many ferry rides we have had.  All of these coastal towns can only be reached by plane or ferry.  We'll leave here on the 8th of August for our final ferry into Haines and Skagway.  From there we will have no schedules at all and can meander through the rest of the state.  It will be difficult to leave these coastal towns however.  They are beautiful and historic. A few days ago we visited Petersburg and spent some time cruising on our lobster boat, Theresa Too (now renamed Freya) with the new owner, John.  He loves the boat and other than some upgraded electronics and fishing gear it has remained the same.  He took us out in the boat as he was preparing for a 3-5 day fishing trip and we got very close to a beautiful floating iceberg.
On Prince of Wales Island we saw a couple of beautiful black bears.  There are eagles all over the place!  The ferries have been a great place to see whales.  On one ride we saw a huge group of humpbacks feeding and spouting and yesterday we encountered a pod of orcas as we started out from Sitka, then saw a group of humpbacks "bubble-net feeding" which is a rare sight.  It involves a cooperative feeding behavior where a group of whales circle a ball of krill then surge up from underneath the ball to the surface, engulfing huge mouthfulls of krill.  It was amazing to watch.  Ed got some photos but it's hard to see what they were actually doing.  I'll post lots of photos on this blog within the next day or so.  Now it's time to go exploring in Juneau. 

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