Surrounded by a circumference of whales, we started our five-day voyage towards Ketchikan. Shallow dives and occasional lunge feeding seemed to be the breakfast technique of the morning. One whale had an incredibly distinctive fluke print and scar—it certainly has a story to tell. 

From our morning with whales, we spent the afternoon in the temperate rainforest. The low tide on the beach allowed us a look at purple shore crabs and other denizens of the intertidal zone. Also washed up along shore were seal bones and the skull of a sea otter. A small clump of scurvy grass on a log brought to mind the generations of sailors lost due to a lack of vitamin C sources on their far-reaching expeditions. Fortunately, not an issue for the modern-day mariner.