Whales and Eagles

We are on the ferry again, leaving Juneau and going to Haines, AK.     This 4.5 hour voyage is much better than the earlier one.     We have snow covered mountains all the way and saw a glacier.  

This very small island is in the middle of no where.    There was not a home for at least 20-30 minutes before or after we saw it.     I am guessing this is a manned light house.   There is another building next to it (the roof is visible) as well as a smaller building on the lower level which I presume is a boat house.      I can't imagine how lonely and desolate this job must be.     

On to the wildlife.     We saw animals frequently on this cruise.     With the help of other passengers I learned that those small animals jumping out of the water are baby orcas.      There were also porpoises and a couple seals.

I'm not sure what this is, but we saw him several times.

Thanks to the ship captain and his loudspeaker, I know there were two killer whales frolicing along the ship.    I didn't catch the two together, but did get this shot.

Jaws, anyone?????

Once we arrived in Haines, we went immediately to the American Eagle Foundation  (they were closing in an hour for the weekend)       They have two eagles in residence that have been rescued and cannot be released back into the wild because of the extent of their injuries.

The backdrops are realistic, don't you agree?

After checking into our B&B, we ventured out to the area where I learned there are frequently eagles in the wild.      We happened upon this guy sitting in the tree by a lake.    For some reason he refused to turn around, but would occasionally turn his head toward me for a shot.

This area is a madhouse in a couple months.    When the salmon make their run, there are thousands of eagles converging on the area to feed   (along with lots of bears).     There are so many spectators that they run shuttle buses just to keep the tight road accessible.    Today, however, we only met another car now and then.

Another angle of this eagle.     I know we have lots of them in the Coulee Region, but this was still special.

At dinner tonight, we had a lovely window seat with a fantastic view of the marina, bay, snow covered mountains and as a bonus, an eagle flew by the window and perched on a piling a few feet away.    Thank you, Haines, AK.