I saw the #1 Alaska sight!

Today Eric, Joan, Meagan, Tarun, Taleena, and I went fishing. It started out as a beautiful day and with empty memory cards, Mylo (my camera) was ready to work. Well, it turned cloudy once we were out on the water, but it was still a nice day. Hey, any day that isn't raining is a pretty good day in Wrangell. We went back to the place where I caught all the Coho, but we didn't have much luck.

After Eric was said his classic "BORING" comment a few times, he spotted the sight every person who travels to Alaska hopes to see. Sprays of water on the horizon. Yep, it was humpback whales. They looked like they were pretty close to shore. As we neared them, it was obvious that they were coming toward us, although not close enough for Mylo to do any good. :) A couple times, I saw their mouths out of the water, obviously feasting on a yummy lunch. In anticipation, I watched the spray of water, the arch of the back, and knew the tail would be following soon as the humpback dove deep for dessert. (Not that I know this for sure, but I'm just imagining that's where all the good stuff is!)

We were looking for the whales ahead of the boat, and as Joan sat out on the deck with Taleena, she said, "I see steam! It's the whales!" Well, we all rushed out to see them, and I did get a few pictures, but once again, they weren't anything like the whales we saw in 1990. Still, it was fun to see them. In the midst of all the excitement, we heard the whirring of the fishing line and knew there was a "fish on" (this is the appropriate thing to shout). Tarun got to reel in the first (and only) fish, and he sure was excited. Hi eyes got huge when he saw the fish coming to the surface. It was a big Coho and he put up a good fight for Tarun. With the disctraction of the fish, the whales escaped our view and traveled further away from us, but it was a fun to see them. After the fish was in the cooler, Tarun said, "Are we going home now?" We fished on our way back to Wrangell, but that was the only fish we got. Sometimes you find them and sometimes you don't. But we hit it just right to find the whales!

Taleena

Tarun--the proud fisherman

(thanks for the picture, Meagan!)