Mr. Sunshine Speaks

Halibut Cove

Halibut Cove, Wednesday, June 28, 2006

As Tim and I were sitting on the porch of our cabin drinking coffee and solving the problems of the world while looking down at the water of Halibut Cove sometime around low tide, Tim said, “I saw something out there and I think it was a whale.” To which I replied “your crazy, why would a whale come up into this little cove at low tide”. We began to watch. Sure enough a few minutes later we hear the unmistakable sound of a whale spouting. Now if I have learned anything from hanging around Tim it is that if you are outside and he says he sees or hears something you can bet on it. Now, I had never heard the sound of a whale spouting live before but I had never heard the sound of a rattlesnake either until I almost stepped on one at Perdonales falls last year and believe me you will know it when you hear it. This was unmistakable. Sure enough there was a whale just across the cove. We called Martha and Anne. After observing it for a while we determined that it surfaced about every 5-6 minutes and so we went about cooking a breakfast of sausages, scrambled eggs, and bagels and returned in time to see it again. Tim and I surmised that the only reason a whale would come up there would be sex or food (about the only true reason for doing anything, assuming wine is a food) and since there was only one whale it must have been eating. The whale hung around for about an hour or so but left before Martha and I could have our first kayaking lessons and go join it. The rest of the day it was the talk on the town. There were those that saw the whale and those that didn’t. And we had. The locals said that it was the first time that they had seen one come up in Halibut cove in 10 years. It was a Minkey whale, which we later learned is a smaller whale that tends to be solitary in nature.

While in Halibut Cove we saw many sea birds. The most interesting to me was the Common Muir, which is one of only a few birds that can fly in the air and the water. We watched them feeding at the Sea Life Center in Seward and they actually do fly in water. They can dive to 600 feet. We also saw eagles. On Thursday morning there was a harbor seal sleeping on our dock. We learned he had a name, Spot 99, and was rescued from the Exxon Valdez oil spill and lived in Halibut Cove now. He had recently become a widower and did seem sad. When we were Kayaking on Wednesday we saw Star Fish, Jellyfish, Sea Urchins and Otters. This was the best trip ever (so far).

Steve.