If I Were Going...: Kenai Fjords National Park Tour: Waterfalls and More Wildlife

A highlight of the trip

In my previous post, I talked about my trip to Northwestern Fjord on the Coastal Explorer, but I didn’t cover everything we saw.

Northwestern Glacier

So, this post is about almost everything (but not all) except the Northwestern Glacier.

Cataract Cove

After we left the glacier, we headed to another routine stop on this tour, Cataract Cove, a gorgeous area where numerous waterfalls cascade down the steep cliffs into the water.

Cataract Cove

As we approached, we saw a small white dot on the rugged hillside …

A good sighting

It was a Mountain Goat nanny …

They often stand over the kids to protect them from Eagles

… and her adorable, fluffy kid ...

So cute

Cataract Cove is a steep, steep cliff that plunges straight into the ocean. Above it, and out of view, is the Harris Glacier. Meltwater pours down the cliffside, creating too many small water falls to count. I suppose someone may have counted them, but my Google search revealed nothing.

Cataract Cove

Here’s a video of us cruising up to one of the larger falls at the end of the Cove.

It was gorgeous (and nice to feel the spray on your face).

Beautiful

In the past, I have seen this cove filled with Lion’s Mane Jellies. This time, the only ones I saw were farther out in the bay and we were moving too fast for me to get a photo.

Lion's Mane Jelly at Cataract Cove, 2013

Steller Sea Lions

We made another stop along the route at a Steller Sea Lion rookery with a huge population …

So many

… including pups!

So many babies

This is the first time I have every seen Steller Sea Lion pups! And, there were lots of them!

In fact, this is the area where the Alaska Sealife Center in Seward has a webcam. There used to be a small research hut on this island where scientist would observe the Sea Lions in person. But, it was washed away in a storm and now the monitoring is done remotely.

Photos: Alaska Sealife center

The Steller Sea Lion, also known as the Steller's Sea Lion (I am always confused about whether to use the possessive) and the Northern Sea Lion, is a near-threatened species of Sea Lion that lives in the northern Pacific. The largest of the eared seals, it is inferior in size only to the Walrus and Elephant Seals. It is named for the naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller, who first described them in 1741 and who also has an Eagle, a Jay and a now-extinct Sea Cow named after him.

Georg and his namesakes; Painting: baynature.org; Steller Sea Eagle photo: eBird; Steller's Jay and Sea Lion photos: mine; Steller Sea Cow illustration: britannica.com

Adult animals are lighter in color than most Sea Lions, ranging from pale yellow to tawny and occasionally reddish.

Two males: one red, one gray

Pups are born almost black and remain dark for several months.

Roughly 50 lbs. at birth, Steller Sea Lions grow rapidly until the fifth year, after which female growth slows considerably. Adult females are 7.5 to 9.5 feet long and weigh 530 to 770 lbs.

Males continue to grow until up to their eighth year and are 9.3 to 10.7 feet long and 990 to 2,470 lbs. Males have much wider chests, necks and general forebody structure than females, plus broader and higher foreheads, flatter snouts and a thick mane of coarse hair around the neck.

Size differences: female, male and pups

They live from the Kuril Islands in the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia to the Gulf of Alaska in the north, down to Año Nuevo Island off the coast of central California to the south. They formerly bred as far south as the Channel Islands, but have not been observed there since the 1980s.

Steller Sea Lions are amphibious, spending time in both water, where they feed, and on land, where they mate, raise their pups, molt and rest. They prefer isolated islands to avoid terrestrial predators, to thermoregulate by means of cooling winds and to access offshore prey, which includes a wide range of fish, Squid and Octopus. Very occasionally, they have been known to prey on Seals and Sea Otter pups.

Predators includes Orcas, Sleeper Sharks and Great White Sharks.

Being up on the rocks provides protection

Mature male Steller Sea Lions gather together mid-spring on traditional, well-defined reproductive rookeries, usually on beaches on isolated islands. The larger, older males establish and defend distinct territories on the rookery.

A week or so later, adult females arrive, occasionally accompanied by immature offspring, and form fluid aggregations throughout the rookery. The males don’t form harems; rather the females move freely among territories.

Although Steller Sea Lion males are generally tolerant of pups, one male filmed in Russia was documented killing and eating several pups in a first-ever recorded incident of cannibalism. Researchers are uncertain why these attacks occurred, but believe the bull may have had an abnormal personality akin to being psychotic. Yikes! A psychotic Sea Lion! Sounds like a plot for a cheesy horror movie.

Coming soon to a theater near you

Pregnant females give birth soon after arriving on a rookery, most often delivering a single pup. Mating generally occurs one to two weeks after giving birth. Like Bears, however, the fertilized egg does not implant until fall. After a week or so of nursing without leaving the rookery, females take progressively longer and more frequent foraging trips.

Female with her pup

In late summer, mothers and pups leave the rookery together. Pups may remain with their mothers for as long as four years. Incidents of mothers feeding daughters that are simultaneously feeding their own newborn pups have been documented, which is an extremely rare occurrence among mammals.

Steller Sea Lions are vocal, using a variety of sounds including belches, growls, snorts and hisses when out of the water and clicks, barks and belches under water. The primary function of vocalization is social, especially for mothers that must find their pups in a crowded breeding area when they return from foraging. The mother and pup both use distinctive calls similar to the bleats of sheep, like names, to help differentiate themselves among the crowd of other Sea Lions.

Females have a higher hearing sensitivity than males, perhaps to hear the higher frequency calls of their pups. The Steller Sea Lion's hearing range also suggests that they are capable of hearing the underwater calls of Orcas.

Anyone who has ever seen a Steller Sea Lion knows they are vocal

Steller Sea Lions were hunted for meat by prehistoric communities everywhere their range intersected with humans. Their skin was used to cover baidarkas and kayaks. Subsistence harvest of 300 animals or less is still permitted in some native communities in Alaska.

Skin kayak: University of Alaska Museum of the North

Historically, the Steller Sea Lion has had only very slight commercial value. In the 19th century, their whiskers sold for a penny apiece for use as pipe cleaners.

Steller Sea Lions are sometimes seen by fishermen as a threat to fish stocks, but killing them is strictly prohibited in the U.S. and Russia. Japan and Canada allow some culling to protect fishing or fish farms. While the populations of the astern and Asian Steller Sea Lion populations appear stable, the population of the western stock, particularly along the Aleutian Islands, was estimated to have fallen by 70 to 80 percent since the 1970s. As a consequence, western Steller Sea Lions were listed as Endangered in 1997. One suspected cause of their precipitous decline was overfishing in the Gulf of Alaska. Other hypotheses include increased predation by Orcas and Sharks due to territory changes related to climate, disease, pollution or poaching.

Some of the Steller Sea Lions we saw had giant numbers inelegantly carved into their sides.

Branded

Actually, about 3,600 have been marked with a letter and number combination over the past 10 years, enabling biologists to identify individual animals. The letter indicates the rookery where the pup was born. One I photographed had an E, meaning it was born on Fish Island, just outside Prince William Sound.

The other has an equal sign, which means it was one of 375 juveniles captured to collect genetic and physiological data and it may be equipped with tracking and data collection instruments. Its natal rookery is unknown.

Humpback Whales

One can generally expect to see some sort of cetacean when traveling in Alaskan waters. We saw four species on our trips to and from the Northwestern Glacier. Three were expected and one was a surprise.

First, there were, as is typical, Humpback Whales. I believe I have seen Humpbacks on every Kenai Fjords trip I have taken. And, I have blogged frequently about Humpbacks in Alaska, Hawaii and Iceland.

We had just one good view of a fluke at close range

Unfortunately, as is typical of Alaska, the Humpbacks weren’t doing much. In fact, some may have been logging (basically sleeping).

A more common posture

Dall Porpoises

We also saw some of the world’s most frustrating animals: Dall’s Porpoises. These exceptionally fast little critters like to ride the bow of boats.

Two in from of the boat

Well, compared to Whales, they are little. They are actually about 6.5 feet long and weigh 230 lbs. But, they are so quick, they are virtually impossible to photograph.

This is actually quite an accomplishment

The Dall Porpoises’ coloring sometimes causes people to think they are seeing Orcas, but Orcas are four times longer and can weigh 40 times more than a Dall Porpoise. Not even close.

Looks like a mini-Orca

Oh, by the way, what is the difference between a Dolphin and a Porpoise? Dolphins tend to have prominent, elongated "beaks" and cone-shaped teeth, while porpoises have smaller mouths and spade-shaped teeth. Dolphins' dorsal fins are hooked or curved; Porpoises’ triangular.

Ha ha

Generally speaking, Dolphin bodies are leaner and Porpoises' are chunkier. Dolphins make whistling sounds through their blowholes to communicate with one another underwater. Porpoises don’t appear to, probably because of structural differences in the blowhole.

Dolphins and Porpoises have many similarities. Both have large, complex brains and a structure in their foreheads, called the melon, with which they generate sonar (sound waves) to navigate their underwater world.

Dolphins, with 32 species (plus five closely related species of River Dolphin), are by far more prevalent than Porpoises, which have only six species.

One of a small group

Orcas

Speaking of Orcas, we saw a lot. And some put on quite a show. I have blogged about Orcas before when another visit to Kenai Fjords produced quite a few, including babies. This time, we saw several families, sometimes moving in an orderly fashion …

Orca parade

… often moving in very tightly clustered groups …

Orcas live in matriarchal groups

They occasionally engaged in some typical, but always exciting, Orca behaviors, such as tail slaps …

Tail slap

… and one really spectacular breach …

This can be hard to catch

… that I captured as he came up …

This is a 10,000 lb. animal!

… and went back down …

Landing

We saw quite a few females …

Females have curved dorsal fins

… some couples …

The male, left, has a straight dorsal fin

Among Orcas, there are two identified groups: one group feeds exclusively on salmon and are referred to as “residents” because they remain in inland or nearby coastal waters.

I believe most of the Orcas we saw were "residents"

A second group, known as “transients,” feeds only on marine mammals. These labels are a bit misleading because both groups travel. But, they are still commonly used. That last Orca we saw was a male transient and we believe he was heading toward the Steller Sea Lion rookery, looking for dinner.

You can almost hear the theme from Jaws

Fin Whale

Finally, and this was the surprise, we saw three Fin Whales. I hadn’t seen one since I lived in Boston. And, according to the naturalist on the boat, they are pretty rare to see. They also tend to be pretty boring.

My best photo by far!

Also known as Finback Whale or Common Rorqual, the Fin Whale is the second-longest species of cetacean on Earth after the Blue Whale, reaching lengths of up to 80 feet and weights up to 50 tons. A newborn Fin Whale is about 20 feet long and weighs about 4,000 lbs.

Chart: Ioniandolphinnproject.com

The Fin Whale's body is long and slender, brownish to dark gray with a paler underside and has a small hooked dorsal fin that sits far back on its body. It has paired blowholes and a broad, flat, V-shaped rostrum.

Fin blow

When the Whale surfaces, the dorsal fin is visible soon after the spout. The spout is vertical and narrow and can reach heights of 20 feet.

Fin whales can be found in all the major oceans, from polar to tropical waters, absent only from waters close to pack ice at the poles and relatively small areas of water away from the open ocean. Fin Whales are rorquals, members of the family that also includes the Humpback, Blue, Bryde's, Sei and Minke.

The only known predator of the Fin Whale is the Orca, with at least 20 eyewitness and second-hand accounts of attack or harassment. They usually flee and offer little resistance to attack. Only a few confirmed fatalities have occurred.

The Fin Whale is a filter-feeder, feeding on small schooling fish, squid and crustaceans including krill. It feeds by opening its jaws while swimming at about 6.8 mph, which causes it to engulf up to 18,000 gallons of water in one gulp. It then closes its jaws and pushes the water back out of its mouth through its baleen, which allows the water to leave while trapping the prey.

An adult has between 262 and 473 baleen plates on each side of the mouth. Each plate is made of keratin that frays out into fine hairs on the ends inside the mouth near the tongue. Each plate can be up to 30 inches long and 12 inches wide.

Two at once!

The Fin Whale routinely dives more than 660 feet deep where it executes an average of four "lunges" to accumulate krill. Each gulp provides the whale with approximately 22 lbs. of food.

Some of the food is microscopic

One Fin Whale can consume up to 4,000 lbs. of food a day, leading scientists to conclude that the Whale spends about three hours a day feeding to meet its energy requirements, roughly the same as humans. The rest of the time, it tends to just lie at the surface.

Unlike Humpback Whales, Fin Whales do not use their flukes to assist in diving. So, the dive is pretty tame to watch.

Dive in progress

In the 19th century, the Fin Whale was occasionally hunted for its blubber, oil and baleen by open-boat whalers, but it was relatively safe, because it could easily outrun ships of the time and often sank when killed, making the pursuit a waste of time for whalers.

Photo: Fine Art Prints

However, the later introduction of steam-powered boats and harpoons that exploded on impact made it possible to kill and secure Fins along with Blue and Sei Whales on an industrial scale.

As other Whale species became overhunted, the whaling industry turned to the still-abundant Fin as a substitute. The introduction of factory ships with stern slipways in 1925 substantially increased the number of Whales taken per year. In the North Pacific, over 74,000 Fin Whales were caught between 1910 and 1975. And, populations declined precipitously.

The Fin Whale was given full protection from commercial whaling in the North Atlantic in 1987 and the North Pacific in 1976, with small exceptions for aboriginal catches and catches for research purposes. All populations worldwide remain listed as endangered by the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service and the International Conservation Union Red List.

Photo: NOAA

Now, collisions with ships are a major cause of mortality. Most serious injuries are caused by large, fast-moving ships over or near continental shelves.

That's Enough for Now

These animals are among the many things we saw as we cruised past mountains, glaciers …