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Bringing It Home – The Saint Rose Blog

Tag: wildlife

Sail, Not Drift

Not many people may know, but I have an awful sense of direction and more often than not, I am horribly indecisive (I liked to think that I live by Yogi Berra’s “When you come to a fork in the road, take it”). I believe I changed my major three times (two of which were before my college career actually commenced) before I decided to pursue an English and Philosophy double major.

Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “To reach a port we must set sail – Sail, not tie at anchor. Sail, not drift.” In my last post, I spoke briefly about growing as an individual, about getting out of my comfort zone to speak and to become acquainted with more people. As my time here in Juneau is starting to dwindle, I am starting to reflect more and more upon my experiences and where I hope to find myself down the road.

To be honest, there still isn’t a concrete answer. But, for so long, it felt as if I was being all too passive and indifferent. It was as if I always waited for opportunities to fall into my lap, for something to be handed to me. When I found out about the Project 70 opportunity to intern at the city museum in Juneau, Alaska, I couldn’t pass up the chance to at least put in an application. That was probably one of the best decisions I have ever made. I learned a lot about an application and interview process. I came to understand the agony of waiting, and became more patient. I can now say that I finally had my first job, and I loved every moment of it. I got to experience many, many new things. I discovered a city and a community that I absolutely adore.

I only have a vague idea about which direction I intend on heading, but I’m pretty determined to forge ahead when I figure it out.

Oh. And I was on a boat. (photos credit: Priscilla Ly)

I recently boarded a boat named ‘Adventure Bound’ that headed out to Tracy Arm to see the Sawyer Glaciers calve, an abundance of icebergs, beautiful waterfalls, and wildlife! This summer has truly been magical.

Look at all those… Heads and Tails!

Nothing frightening here. No worries. I simply wanted to share some pictures from when I went whale watching!

It is best to go whale watching at the beginning of the summer, when the whales are just returning from the warmer waters of Hawaii, where they went to mate. Humpback whales will fast, living off of body fat reserves, and forego feeding while it is mating season (talk about being committed!). So when the whales return to Alaska for food in the summer months, they are truly ravenous–it is said that whales can consume an average of about 1 to 1.5 tons of fish and krill a day!

(credit: Priscilla Ly)

Along with a few other people, I was shuttled out to the harbor at Auke Bay to board a small boat which brought us out to see the whales! I was able to experience seeing humpback whales engage in bubble net feeding–a unique feeding technique employed by the humpback whales. A group of whales will swim in a shrinking circle blowing bubbles forcing a school of fish upward. The whales will then spontaneously swim up, through the ‘bubble net’ with their mouths wide open, trapping thousands of fish in one gulp!

That day, we witnessed quite a bit of action out on the water. We never had to wait too long to see the humpback whales emerge from the water or spot water spouted from the blow holes indicating their location. We even got to see a whale breach! (Sorry guys and gals, I was a little too awe-struck to have clicked the shutter button…But feel free to click the link I left you, I’m sure it will suffice)

All in all, it was a wonderful day! Anyone else have stories to share about their whale watching experience(s)?

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