Our next stop was Icy Straights. This is a very small port run by a private company. Here we booked a whale watch tour. Boarding an expedition boat we sailed out about an hour from port.
In the distance we saw several spouts. These were humpback whales feeding. There were about twenty whales in all. It turns out these whales were doing bubble net feeding. This was a learned behavior where one whale descends below the fish and encircles them with bubbles. This drives the fish upwards so that the other whales can open their mouths in unison to feed as they rise to the surface. It was a beautiful experience to see these large mammals performing for us all morning.
