We were determined to find some bubble feeders today as well as visit the lighthouse and the weather looked promising despite the forecast.  We started out passing an island with a large number of eagles just sitting in place for a photo session.  From there we visited a sea lion rookery - we even saw a nursing pup.  Quite a noisy group of animals, lots of roaring and grunting and posturing. Luckily we were upwind as these guys are not the most fragrant animals.

Also visited an area where pigeon guillemots nest.  They are really cool birds with bright red feet. 

We picked up a solitary humpback doing some lunge feeding along the Brother Islands shore in the same spot as a few days ago.  This was the same individual that was brushing his pecs in the kelp to flush out fish and doing some subsurface lunges.

For lunch - a wonderful chowder and shrimp salad. 

We anchored off of the Five Finger Lighthouse and put two skiffs in.  Adam, Pat, Kent, and I went out of do some work with pods.  I did the recording while Pat was the official photographer and Kent did the GPS readings.  The sea conditions were absolutely perfect - dead flat calm.  You could hear the sounds of blows for miles and there were blows all around us.  They are much less predictable here than in Hawai'i where Adam is usually very accurate in figuring out where they will pop up - we kept losing them as they changed direction and pod composition.  I guess when the feeding urge is strong, they are ready to turn on a dime for their meal.

Far out we saw a humpback breaching and pec slapping and decided to work him when he suddenly came our direction to join several other whales in the area.  There were a couple of spectacular breaches which Pat captured before he settled down with the rest of the group to feed just as it was time to come in.

In the meantime the second group went ashore to the lighthouse.  Once back at Alaska Adventurer we changed teams - Donna and Sharon recorded, Pal and Kathleen did pictures while Ben, Pat, and I visited the lighthouse.  Ben, bless him, hauled me in and out of the boat to keep me dry and, well, not drowned!

Ed is the keeper at Five Fingers Light and is restoring it.  He's a very nice guy and stays there all summer with his two dogs, Bridget and Whitney - they love having visitors throw sticks for them.  The lighthouse is really interesting and mostly self sustaining.  Climbed to the top of the light to view the whole area.  With the calm waters, you could hear blows from humpbacks all around us. It's a heavenly place.

Came back to a late dinner of a huge pile of Dungeness crab!  It was a really heavenly meal but was capped off by the best dessert of all - lunge feeding.  All of a sudden there were whales all around us all blowing bubbles and lunge feeding!  The sounds were so wonderful and the action was so much like a beautiful ballet.  We ran from side to side on the boat shooting video since it was really too dark for still photos (although Pat and Kent really tried).  Finally we just stopped and took it all in;  maybe it was Mother Nature's way of telling us to put down the equipment and just watch her wonders.  It was magical.

Bubble/Lunge Video 1   Bubble/Lunge Video 2   Alaskan Twilight Video

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Pigeon guillemot nesting area	Sea lion rookery	Bulls in the water playing "mouth games"
Nursing pup - late in the season for babies!	Alaska Adventurer from the lighthouse.	Adam waiting patiently for us to get our gear together to find whales.
This singleton was feeding right along the shoreline.	He'd lay on his side and to lunge through the water....	...with his mouth open. The roof of his mouth is at the top left with the baleen plates hanging inside the "lips".  The bottom half of his jaw is at the right - the mouth opens as if the jaw is dislocated in order to bring in more water.
Five Finger Lighthouse	Columbine and other wildflowers	c Ed lives at the lighthouse in the summer months and is restoring it. He found this mural while in the process of stripping old layers of paint.
Whitney and Bridget live with Ed on the island, the scene of a mystery book called Murder at Five Finger Light by Sue Henry.	Whitney will retrieve anything and has a path all worked out to climb the rocks.
Alaska Adventurer from Five Finger Light.		Pat at the top of the lighthouse.
	Ed beneath the Lighthouse Association symbol.