Wednesday was an early morning. We got into Juneau about 8am and I was off the boat shortly after that to do some shopping. This was our first day to be in port so lots of excitement to get our feet on solid ground. We had the second docking position, so we were close to town and quick access to the sea walk. Besides heading out to do some shopping, I was looking for pictures. There is a statue on the dock and information about how the dog would let the town’s people know when a ship was in port. I want to see if there is a printed book about this dog.
John was out searching for high speed internet connection for Steve and helped me get to the Ben Franklin and the Post Office. I had learned on line that I could purchase fabric with scenes of Alaska there. Well, I found a wonderful quilt pattern or two to use with the fabric, stuffed animals, a puppet telling glove and a piece of seal fur. Great deals and I supported a local owned store not the stores right on the dock that are trying to get the tourist’s money. I visited a couple other stores including a store with Russian imports. I tried to buy some soap made with glacier silt but they didn’t open til 10. Then it was time to get things back to the ship and meet on the dock for our excursios. Getting on the ship is not just run up the gangway and head to your room. First you have to show your ship card (aka room/charge key) and a photo id, then after walking up the gangway with people coming down, you have to put everything through the xray machine and walk through the metal detector. After I grabbed my stuff after it passed through security it was off to the room to drop things off. Getting off the ship just requires having your room key scanned as you exit and then walk down the gangway. Oh yes, if it is near the beginning of port time, you have an animal mascot that wants you to have your picture taken with them.
The gang all met at the dock and loaded onto our 2 buses to head out to get on our whale watching and wildlife cruise. We had a little time to kill on the way to Allen Marine dock, so we stopped to take our first pictures of Mendenhall Glacier. When you are near the front of the line to get on-board you get your choice of seats. I headed straight upstairs to claim a set in the enclosed area upstairs. After we pushed off, we had a safety briefing. Then most people left the upstairs cabin and we standing outside in the sunshine watching for the wildlife. We didn’t have to wait long before we spotted whales. The first whale was a youngster that was playing around learning what he could do. He really put on a show for us and then he joined his mother and they were diving and having a good time.
The pilot was shocked to see a boater almost hit a whale. The whale had been diving and with our boat just drifting, it was obvious that some form of wildlife was in the area. After the group so see that the whale was fine we went back to watching and taking pictures. While we were enjoying ourselves, the captain discovered that a group of whales were bubble feeding just a short distance from where we were. To bubble feed, a whale blows bubble while going around in a circle and making noise. Then the whale do a deep dive and comes back up in the center of the circle. The fish inside the circle will not go through the bubbles and they get stunned. Then the whale have a feeding frenzy along with the sea birds in the area. This is not a common thing to see and we got to observe it several times and even had whales breeching at the same time. The captain said that they don’t stay with a whale for more than about 30 minutes so that they do not interfere with their feeding.
We then headed out to a marker where sea lions are often found often on or around the marker. The marker was full and there was a sea lion that was in the water waiting his turn. Being a group of teachers we associated it with kids on the playground. A toy is full no one is leaving to let someone else have a turn. As we started back toward where we had seen the whales earlier we meet another group of whales that wanted to put on a show for use. We didn’t leave til the captain said that we needed to head back to have lunch. As we passed where the bubble feeding had been earlier, we could tell by all the boats just drifting that they were still busy eating. We also saw the bubbles being blown.
We went to an island where the only year round residents have a place that boat groups can stop and have a salmon bake. A group was about to leave as we arrived. The earlier group had been a little late arriving and so we had to wait for the salmon to cook. After lunch, we had a little time to visit the gift shop, go to the touch tank or walk on the shore. Several of us collected shells and pebbles on the beach. I had packed in my bag, 4 of the pop bottle plugs with lids. I have one container with water and another with some of the sand, pebbles and tiny shells from the beach. Then it was time to head back to the dock.
When we arrived at the dock, we had to stay onboard for a while as one of our buses had had trouble and had to be replaced. We finally unloaded and walked up to get on our bus. Everyone got a wrist band to wear at Mendenhall Glacier. Since the salmon were running, I walked down to the stream to view the salmon. This particular salmon is referred to as the Christmas salmon as they are red and green. Then I walked to viewing pavilion to see the ice bergs that had calved from the Mendenhall float out to sea. Then it was a quick walk to the a couple trails at the visitor center to get a closer look at the actual glacier. We were not allowed from this site to go onto the glacier. Buses are only supposed to drop their load off for a 45 minute visit and then have 5 minutes to get their bus loaded. Our drivers did not come back til we had had an hour to visit the glacier. Even with the extra time I didn’t have time to make any purchases.
The buses took us back to the dock about 5:30. It was back through the process to get back on the ship to put cameras and bags back in the room. I spent about another hour looking around for things for the culture boxes. Everyone had to be back on the ship by 7:30. Since most of us missed our dinner at 5:45, we headed up to the Lido deck for dinner. It was nice to sit and have a nice conversation with a couple others in the group. Then I ran up to the Crow’s Nest to use the internet. If you used your internet account between 8 and 10 pm you were only charged for half the time you used in one session. I was able to upload to my blog, check email and try to get on to the school account.
I headed back to the room to get organized for the early morning shopping before the Sitka activities. It was a fantastic day with sun (none of the liquid sunshine) and high of something like 72 degrees. This is not normal for Juneau.
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