Part 6, Saturday, Sept 07, Arriving in Juneau (Part AA)- 

      Today, was a very special day for Jen and I. We were going Halibut fishing, but not for the reason of just catching a couple of Halibut!! Jen and I went down for breakfast before we had to meet the groups going fishing today. We would load onto one of the Orion's launch boats and be transported to the dock on shore. They had forecasted steady and heavy rain today, but it looked like the weather had changed. The rain had stopped and the heavy cloud cover was gone being replaced by broken clouds with the sun occasionally peeking thorough. It looks like its going to be a beautiful day! 

     

      As we approached the city of Juneau, Gulls and Cormorants were buzzing back and forth around the harbor. I even saw a few flocks of Pintail and Gadwall flying around the harbor maybe heading to the large marshes on the northwest part of town. There was a large gathering of Gulls by the town dock. I hope they are still there after we are dropped off. I saw quite a few Bonaparte's Gulls flying around the docks. 

     

                            Mostly Glaucous-winged Gulls and some Bonaparte's Gulls

     

     We got dropped off at the town dock and most of the Gulls that were there had moved on, just some Bonaparte's Gulls hanging back. We walked around the dock waiting for our fishing groups to gather, and I took the opportunity to look for birds. I was always hoping for a stray Murrelet hanging around the docks, but no luck! The groups finally got assembled and we all checked in to the group representative. There were roughly forty people going fishing this morning. Not all were going Halibut fishing. Only twelve of us were going for Halibut, the rest of the others were going Salmon fishing. As it turned out, there were only eleven of us going for Halibut, there was one no-show. Although Salmon fishing is popular, Jen and I really wanted to go for Halibut. 

     Jen and I were going Halibut fishing out of respect and to honor Dad's (Jen's Father) wishes.....something he made us promise we would do when we got to Alaska. A year ago Dad was 93 when he took his final journey, and he wanted us to experience Alaska for ourselves something he had done many times with Mom. But going Halibut fishing to him was first on his list! Dad was a career Lobsterman and Fisherman in CT, and he just loved it and being on the sea! He had fished all over the world and caught many species of fish. He fished for Salmon in Alaska, Norway, Scotland, and just about any other place where there are Salmon. But Cod fishing was his favorite. I invited Dad cod fishing for the first time before Jen and I got married twenty years ago. We both shared a profound connection from cod fishing and we would go together every summer, fall and winter off Gloucester and Point Judith. He would tell me stories of his Halibut fishing when in Alaska, and it made me want to catch one more than anything. So this Halibut trip will always be secured deep in our hearts. When we reserved this fishing trip long before the cruise dates, everyone gave me advice about how to catch that trophy-sized monster barn door Halibut. To me, that really didn't matter......we just wanted to catch a Halibut for Dad, no matter what size it was!! We just wanted to get one on the boat!!

    The shuttle bus ride was about twenty minutes to Statter Harbor and the fishing docks. When we stepped out onto the dock, we were greeted by Capt. Steve. Capt. Steve gave us a little explanation of what was going to happen that morning. Since the boats are smaller charter fishing boats, they are only allowed to take six passengers along with mate and the Captain. Those of us going for Halibut split up into two groups. Jen and I ended up in the group with five people. The Captain introduced Capt. Mike to us. He would be our Captain for the day, and we would be going on his boat. Chris was the name of his mate. Chris was very professional, pleasant, energetic, had a great sense of humor and made us feel very welcome. I knew Jen and I would enjoy this team! 

     Capt. Mike was a young Captain, and as it turned out.....an excellent Captain who knew his stuff. He was also very professional, intelligent, a great sense of humor, and also made us feel very comfortable and welcome! And.......what makes this trip even better was my first question to Capt. Mike: "Do you know anything about birds"?  He said that he did! We were off to a great start! As he was starting his outboards getting them warmed up, I asked him my usual question: "Are there any Marbled Murrelets still around"? He told me there should be a few around, he had seen a couple of them yesterday. We are off to a great start!!

     Before we boarded the boat, we had a fairly long walk down the many long docks leading in all directions to all the boats. It was low tide and all the mud flats/mussel beds were high and dry and exposed. This was good for me because these mussel beds were hosting many Gulls and large numbers of Bald Eagles in all ages. The Eagles where everywhere!! Even though this photo-op was a great opportunity to photograph, it proved to be "challenging" Since we were all walking down the docks in a steady procession, I really couldn't stop to take pictures. As tempting as it was, that would be completely rude and inappropriate to all the others trying to get to the boat and keep on our tight schedule. The challenging part was since I was carrying the bags and gear for Jen and I, I had to take as many photographs I could with one hand as we walked steadily down the docks. Tying to take photos with one hand using a fully extended 500 mm heavy lens while walking was indeed "challenging"! It also created a really fun memory. I had seen many Eagles on our trip so far, but not so many and not this close. This was Alaska!

    

 I am not sure about the species name of these Crows (maybe Northwestern Crows)? They are smaller than our Crows, and about the size of our Fish Crows here in New England and have a very odd call.

     There were many Glaucous-winged Gulls in the harbor by the boats, all were associating with the Eagles. Again, different than the association of both species here in CT. When the Eagles appear, the Gulls go into a frenzy and chase the Eagles. Here, they live in harmony.

                                           Magnificent, adult Glaucous-winged Gull-

                   Plenty of Bonaparte's Gulls hanging around in the harbor by the fishing docks- 

        A new Gull species for the trip; Thayer's Gull. Just as we were about to step onto the boat, this Gull flew in, grabbed a small floating food item, and then flew off. I was lucky to have gotten this one quick shot- 

                              Did I mention that the Bald Eagles were everywhere? 

  

    When Jen and I boarded the boat, we were still fairly close to the one side of the mussel beds. Jen said to me, what species of Shorebirds are those? I never saw them since I was getting all of our stuff in order. I was able to take a few shots as Capt. Mike backed his boat out of his slip. The Shorebirds are Surfbirds.......a new species for the trip.

               On board, Jen and I filled out our fishing licenses. Now we were legal and ready!

     As we left the harbor and worked our way out into the Sound, I could see scattered Waterfowl near shore hanging out with the Gulls and Eagles. Thankfully the Eagles are fat and happy and live in a place where fish are so plentiful. Ducks hanging out with Eagles is not something you see here. Actually, I expected the ducks to be Mallards since this is what I am used to back home. I took a few pictures and checked the back of my camera: Pacific Harlequin Ducks. As a bird and decoy carver I am thrilled that I was able to experience Harlequin Ducks on both coasts. There are two subspecies of Harlequin Duck; the Pacific Harlequin and the Atlantic Harlequin. Now I have seen both of them. 

     If you are Lariphile (aka Gull aficionado) Alaska is the place for you. Gulls are literally everywhere you look. On the way out to the Halibut fishing grounds, Gulls were gathered in many locations along the shoreline. 

    Now that Capt. Mike was outside the harbor line, he told us to hang on....he was going to make some time. He hit the throttles and suddenly we were skipping across the water at 25+ knots like a flat stone making twenty-five skips from a single toss. Everyone was inside the cabin except for me. I was on bird patrol! I was pressed up against the back of the cabin on the port side, my left arm looped through the handrail holding on tight which allowed my right arm to hold and hopefully work my camera......somewhat! The rule for sailing is one hand for the boat and one hand for you. In this case it was two hands and arms for you, and no hands or arms for the boat or camera! 

     As we flew out of the bay, I spotted a bird flying along shore headed in towards the harbor. I tried my best to take a few photos but it was a great failure. The camera was bouncing all over the place while I was trying to hang on and bouncing all over the place. The image eventually showed a Red-throated Loon in full breeding plumage, something I had never seen. I only see them on New England waters in the winter in winter plumage. I have to figure out a system to be more successful with my camera under the time-warp speed of this boat! 

    We had traveled quite a distance and were getting closer to the area where we would be fishing which I found out from Chris. Still cranking at warp speed, I looked out straight ahead on the port side and suddenly a small, dark bird just appeared. The bird slowly turned towards the speeding boat and headed directly for us. I was quite stunned! What an opportunity, I don't want to blow these shots! In a short period of time this small Seabird, flew right up to the boat and was following along the port side and keeping up with the fast moving boat. The bird was twenty-five yards from the port side of the boat.

     While we were getting to this point, I had thought about how I was going to use my camera under these bouncing boat movements as well as holding on and keeping myself pressed up against the cabin. I figured I could use my left arm for a camera support if I raised my arm a bit and still maintained my death-grip on the handrail. And this is exactly what I did. I kept the shutter button pushed and followed this bird as it paralleled the boat. I did this until the bird got tired of the game and then turned to the left and headed for the direction it had come from. Success!

    The only thing now was, what species of seabird? It looked like a Sooty Shearwater, but it was really small, just a little larger than our Manx Shearwater. I suspected it was a Pacific species similar to a Sooty, but not a Sooty. Capt. Mike yelled out of the cabin, "What kind of bird was that"? I told him "Not a Sooty Shearwater"! "I was hoping you could tell me"! He told me he didn't know because he had never seen one up there in the Sound so close to the Harbor. 

     

    I looked up the bird in the book "Birds of Alaska" that I had packed away in my bag. The bird is identified as a Short-tailed Shearwater. This is the first one that I had ever seen (up until now) and it was really exciting! This encounter was absolutely an amazing and profoundly memorable birding event!

    We had arrived to the fishing spot that Capt. Mike felt confident about. The tide was dead slack and the water wasn't moving very much. Chris readied the rods, prepped the rigs, and baited the hooks with Alaskan Squid. The lines went overboard and the 3 lb. sinkers did their job bringing the baited hook 300 feet down to the bottom. Any bottom fisherman knows the fish feeding activates wouldn't begin until the tide started moving. Chris said it may be a few minutes before the Halibut start biting. Having gone Cod fishing for most of my life, I chose to wait until the tide moved, I would watch for birds instead. 

     All the way out to this fishing spot, you could see Whales breaking the surface every now and then in all areas of the Sound. Just after we set up, a group of Humpbacks broke the surface about a quarter mile off the stern. It was small pod of Humpbacks. In the meantime, the tide just started to move, but the fishing was still slow, and the birdwatching was about the same. I really didn't see too much flying around in any direction. Out of nowhere, a small pod of Humpbacks busted the surface about 20 feet off the bow of the boat...... they just appeared! We all got a really close encounter with these Whales that surrounded the boat. They were so close you could just about reach over the railing and touch them. Incredible!!! In fact they were so close, I shot these images with the 100 mm setting on my telephoto lens. In some cases they were so close my camera wouldn't focus. 

   The encounter lasted about two minutes, but this gift seemed to last much longer. All of us onboard were stunned (in a good way) as to what had just happened...we were all astonished. I looked over to Capt. Mike and complimented him on his choice for the exact spot he wanted to fish for Halibut. He had obviously nailed the spot holding the baitfish..... the Whales made that quite clear. In very simple terms; baitfish mean Halibut!

    Not sure if those sequential marks are natural on the Whales skin, or healed scars from a boat's propeller? 

     

    Just after the Whales moved on, the tide was starting to move. You could see the current moving the lines on the rods, it will soon happen. I still hadn't dropped my line yet, I wanted to wait until the Halibut started biting. The bird activity picked up as well. Several flocks of Bonaparte's Gulls were moving heading farther down the Sound. 

    Everyone had to check their bait every now and then. The Halibut bite had not turned on as yet, but when they do, you want a good chunk of fresh bait on your hook. Every time Chris changed the Squid and tossed the old piece of Squid overboard, a Gull would come out of nowhere and grab it before it sank. And that is what happened when this humungous Glaucous-winged x Herring Gull hybrid dropped in.

                                 Several Pelagic Cormorants headed in towards the harbor-

                   Several small flocks, trios, pairs and single Scoters (mostly Surf Scoters) were flying around the Sound near the boat- 

     Then it happened......the Halibut bite started. It was like someone turned on a switch or rang the dinner bell! Jen was the first one to hook up and I was thrilled! I had a smile from ear to ear. I was thinking Dad would be so proud, so happy! You did it Jen! 

     Another hook up by someone else on the boat, than another. The feeding frenzy had begun. I kept hoping for a Murrelet, but up until this point, I hadn't seen one Alcid. I knew what would happen, I would switch over to the rod, put my camera down, and the area would be inundated with Alcids. But, we were here for Dad. I put my camera in the camera bag, and I started fishing. 

     The limit for Halibut is one per person, but you could still practice catch and release. I suggested to Jen to keep fishing and I will try and catch one. While I was fishing, Jen caught another. Way to go Jen! Everyone on board was hooking up......but nothing yet for me. Suddenly, there was that hefty tug on my rod, and I was now reeling in my first Halibut. Chris marked the fish to identify them later so all of us can send our Halibut to the be processed for us. I set the freshly baited hook back down and as if I had dropped it into the Halibut's mouth. I was reeling it up just after I had dropped it down. There's two! 

     That experience was so greatly satisfying and fulfilling, Jen and I decided we caught enough; we only wanted to catch one to say we did it, and of course to honor Dad's wishes. All the others on the boat kept fishing and catching, we enjoyed watching them. I put the rod up and picked up my camera once again hoping for a Murrelet. 

     While everyone on board was having a great time catching many Halibut, Jen pointed to the starboard side and said "Look"! And as I looked over, a single juvenile Pigeon Guillemot passed by the boat about 50 yards out. The first Alcid of the day. I eventually saw another later in the day on our way back into the harbor. I was thrilled. So far this was the closest Pigeon Guillemot I had seen that was in camera range. 

     About an hour and a half later, the Halibut bite slowed down and so did the bird activity. Capt. Mike told everyone that we would fish for another fifteen minutes than we had to pick up and head for the harbor. 

     For those who are birders or birdwatchers, you know all to well what happens when you think the bird will be a no-show. The bird always shows up when you are all packed up to leave, or you've given up for the day, or after you left five minutes ago. Capt. Mike told everyone, to get ready, its time to call it a day, time to head in. I was getting our gear together on the stern when Capt. Mike yelled out the cabin door to me....."Keith starboard side, seventy-five yards"! 

    I looked over just in time to see a pair of Marbled Murrelets flying by headed into the upper Sound.

Thank You Capt. Mike!

        Oh yeah, how was the fishing you ask?? Awesome!! Jen reeling in her first Halibut. We filled out the processing forms and they were sent along with Jen and my Halibut to the processing plant. They would be cleaned, fileted, and flash frozen and shipped to our home in CT. (Later) after we returned home from our cruise vacation, the frozen Halibut arrived. It is absolutely delicious!!!

           Yeah, I know, I'm in another tacky, cheesy photo of a fisherman and his prize! (Ugh)!! 

           

         

          Juneau, Part BB continues......Heading back to the Harbor and leaving Juneau........