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Duncan Murrell - A Whale of a Time

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Duncan Murrell - A Whale of a Time

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  • This was my first really memorable day kayaking with humpback whales in my Klepper kayak in the early 1980s. It was a beautiful sunny day and the sea was flat calm. There was a pod of humpback whales feeding in the area all afternoon. I managed to capture a lot of good photos on this day with my Olympus OM1 because the conditions were so perfect and the whales remained in the same area for a long time. This was my first photo that I ever saw published in a book on whales. I stumbled across it in a book shop in Juneau, Alaska, which was a great thrill and gave me a lot of encouragement to continue photographing the whales. But the most rewarding encouragement for me was when most of the main conservation organisations, like the WWF, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth started using my whale photos for their Save the Whale campaigns.
    Alaska-humpback-whale-sounding2.jpg
  • This was my first really memorable day kayaking with humpback whales in my Klepper kayak in the early 1980s. It was a beautiful sunny day and the sea was flat calm. There was a pod of humpback whales feeding in the area all afternoon.
    Alaska-humpback-whale-sounding1.jpg
  • Southeast-Alaska-Avalon15.jpg
  • Southeast-Alaska-Avalon13.jpg
  • Southeast-Alaska-Avalon14.jpg
  • This is the entrance on the West side that faced Admiralty Island. To the right of the photo you can see the distinctive outline of the hills that creates "the Sleeping Giant", as everybody called it. Later on when I was just kayaking, I still liked to stop here to camp because there was a very good place to camp near where I took this photo from. In the opposite direction behind this beach was a small island that was used as a haul-out by Steller sea lions. Whenever they were there you could constantly hear their rumbling groaning and roaring. There is also a lot of seal and seabird activity around the island, and particularly around the kelp beds. One of the regular seabirds there are pigeon guillemots (Cepphus columba), with their distinctive high-piched squeaking. Humpback whales also frequently feed in the nutrient-rich waters around the island, as a result of the strong upwelling created by strong currents colliding. I had my first close encounter with humpback whales lunge-feeding right next to the rocky shoreline of one of the islands.
    Southeast-Alaska-Avalon19.jpg
  • The Brothers was one of my favourite and safest anchorages, with an entrance on either side, and a good beach near the anchorage for landing the dinghy or kayak. The intertidal life was amazing, and there was a special bonus of a rhubarb patch on one of the islands where there used to be a home.
    Southeast-Alaska-Avalon11.jpg
  • My Klepper Aerius 1 kayak on a beach on one of the Brothers Islands, Frederick Sound, Southeast Alaska, USA.<br />
This was a truly idyllic location that I loved visiting. I can tell this was taken in my early years kayaking in Southeast Alaska because I was still using the heavy wooden Klepper paddle. It made so much difference to paddling when I started using a very lightweight fibre-glass paddle. It made a big difference to reducing arm fatigue when I was paddling for long periods. But arm fatigue was a minor problem compared to my bottom and back aching, and I experimented for years to try to find the perfect seating and back support. I ended up with several layers of foam until I finally bought a special  inflatable kayak seat and back-rest.
    Alaska-camping-kayaking6.jpg
  • It was always a relief to get everything packed into and onto my kayak. I broke all of the conventional rules regarding how much could be loaded onto the decks, but I was carrying such a heavy load with all of my camping and photographic equipment as well, that my kayak was still very stable, if not a little heavy to paddle. But after paddling so many miles like that and keeping up with the whales day after day I developed a very efficient strong paddling style all of my own. It became very metronomic and relaxing with the sound of the water gliding past me.
    Alaska-camping-kayaking5.jpg
  • Steller sea lions forage near shore and pelagic waters.They are also capable of traveling long distances in a season and can dive to approximately 1300 feet (400 m) in depth. They use land habitat as haul-out sites for periods of rest, molting, and as rookeries for mating and pupping during the breeding season. At sea, they are seen alone or in small groups, but may gather in large "rafts" at the surface near rookeries and haul outs. They are capable of powerful vocalizations that are accompanied by a vertical head bobbing motion by males.<br />
Steller sea lions are opportunistic predators, foraging and feeding primarily at night on a wide variety of fishes (e.g., capelin, cod, herring, mackerel, pollock, rockfish, salmon, sand lance, etc.), bivalves, cephalopods (e.g., squid and octopus) and gastropods. Their diet may vary seasonally depending on the abundance and distribution of prey. They may disperse and range far distances to find prey, but are not known to migrate.<br />
Steller sea lions are colonial breeders. Adult males, also known as bulls, establish and defend territories on rookeries to mate with females. Bulls become sexually mature between 3 and 8 years of age, but typically are not large enough to hold territory successfully until 9 or 10 years old. Mature males may go without eating for 1-2 months while they are aggressively defending their territory. Males may live up to 20 years and females to 30 years. Females start breeding at 3-7 years and spend the next two decades either pregnant or lactating. Females are bred in June, but the fertilized egg does not implant until October. Single pups are born the following June, with birthdates at southern rookeries earlier than births at northern rookeries. Twins are rare. Pups suckle from 1 to 3 years, with most apparently weaning after their first winter.
    Alaska-Steller-sealion4.jpg
  • Southeast-Alaska-Avalon12.jpg
  • The flukes of a humpback whales' flukes during sounding is one of the most graceful, aerodynamic shapes in the animal kingdom. I never tired of observing and photographing that hypnotically beautiful form and motion that delighted the eye from every conceivable angle. It was an advantageous benefit to be photographing them from the low sea-level angle from a kayak. The low angle helps to silhouette them against the distant background, creating a greater sense of drama and perspective rather than just against the water. That is very noticeable if you compare photos taken from a kayak and a boat.
    Alaska-humpback-whale-sounding12.jpg
  • We would have been motoring with the sails hoisted, as we often used to do, to assist our speed and stabilise the boat in any choppy seas. Glacier Bay was the northernmost place that I used to travel to in Southeast Alaska, and any trips there were always eagerly anticipated because of the stupendous mountain scenery and all of the dramatic tidewater glaciers and inlets.
    Southeast-Alaska-Avalon21.jpg
  • It was so beautiful to be out on Frederick Sound where it meets Stephens Passage to the North. It is surrounded by the mountains of the mainland to the East and the North, Kupreanof Island to the South, and Baranof and Admiralty Island to the West.  There are passages to get out to the Pacific Ocean, but it seems contained like a massive lake. It can be tranquil like a millpond like this photo, but very quickly transformed into a maelstrom by powerful South-easterly winds, and strong currents.
    Southeast-Alaska-Avalon10.jpg
  • The prevailing wind in Southeast Alaska is SE, and in the early days when I was kayaking mainly in Frederick Sound and Stephens Passage I had to paddle southwards back to Petersburg against strong headwinds and waves. But sometimes the wind and waves were too much for me when the weather  deteriorated in late September, and I had to just sit out the storms and wait for a break in the weather. On this occasion I had to wait at least a week, and I was down to my last provisions. It was exhilarating to look out across the stormy sea feeling the full might of the wind rampaging across the long fetch of Frederick Sound. But I was getting frustrated and my tent was being attacked by a very aggressive territorial squirrel that objected to me living on his patch. It was the only clearing that I could find to pitch my tent, and because it was relatively open the forest floor was riddled with the squirrel's burrows. It started chewing holes in my precious "Omnipotent" tent and then it escalated to bombarding it with fir-cones. I had to retaliate and throw them back at him, and the tension continued to escalate from there until I had to declare war on the squirrel. I was always very wary of the squirrels in Southeast Alaska because they were worse than bears for trying to raid my food, and they chewed holes in some of my drybags, with perfect insight into where their favourite snacks like peanuts were located. Eventually I woke up one night and the moon was beaming across a placid Frederick Sound so I made a dash for it and paddled for 14 hours straight to get back to Petersburg before the weather changed.
    Southeast-Alaska-coast11.jpg
  • In my Klepper folding kayak, with sailboat Avalon moored at the Brothers Islands, with Admiralty Island in the background,  Stephen’s Passage, Southeast Alaska, Alaska, USA. <br />
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My Alaskan partner and I worked together at a salmon cannery in the fishing town, Petersburg on Mitkof Island. We bought a 26 ft gaff cutter from an English boat builder who sailed it to Alaska from Oregon. My partner Anne, named it “Avalon”, because of a special interest in Arthurian legends. I then bought a Klepper Aerius 1 folding kayak from a local high-school teacher who did kayaking trips to the Arctic every summer with her fellow high-school teacher husband. I was now fully equipped to explore Southeast Alaska with my partner. The Brothers Islands is a pair of small islands in Stephen’s Passage a short distance from Admiralty Island. It is a beautiful, safe anchorage, with a commanding view of Stephen’s Passage and humpback whales commonly frequent the area. There is a Steller sea lion haul-out a short distance from the islands, where I saw many entertaining performances by those most endearing of sea creatures.
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  • Duncan Murrell paddling his fully laden Klepper Aerius 1 folding kayak, the Brothers Islands, Stephen’s Passage, Southeast Alaska, USA.<br />
<br />
It was always a relief to get everything packed into and onto my kayak. I broke all of the conventional rules regarding how much could be loaded onto the decks, but I was carrying such a heavy load with all of my camping and photographic equipment as well that my kayak was still very stable, if not a little heavy to paddle, but after paddling so many miles like that and keeping up with the whales day after day I developed a strong paddling style all of my own.
    Whaleman-4.tif
  • Duncan Murrell kayaking with humpback whales in his Klepper Aerius 1 folding kayak, near the Brother’s Islands, with Admiralty Island and Baranof Island in the distance, Stephen’s Passage, Southeast Alaska, USA.<br />
<br />
This was my first ever memorable day kayaking with humpback whales in Southeast Alaska in about 1983; an amazing day that set the tone for another 20 years of involvement there with the whales. It was a beautifully flat calm day out on the water and there was a large pod of humpback whales feeding in the vicinity of the Brothers Islands where we were moored with “Avalon”. It was the day when I realized that a kayak was the only way that I could really appreciate being around the whales without disturbing them or interrupting their natural feeding behaviour. I discovered that they are completely safe to be around and that I could manoeuvre the kayak more than adequately to stay out of their way. It was such an adrenaline-rush to be so close to them, and to be able to feel their power and energy transmitted through the water.
    Whaleman-2.tif
  • Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeanglia) sounding, Stephen’s Passage, Southeast Alaska, USA.
    Humpback whales-14-2.tif
  • Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeanglia) cooperative feeding using a bubble net, near Kupreanof Island, Stephen’s Passage, Southeast Alaska, USA.<br />
This photo was taken near the Tlingit town of Kake on Kupreanof Island and illustrates the problems of the practice of clear-cut logging that persisted during the 1980s and 90s when I was based in Southeast Alaska. The extent of clear-cutting was much worse around native communities because the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) awarded approximately 148,500,000 acres (601,000 km2) of Federal land in Alaska to private native corporations which were created under ANCSA. Transference of public National Forest land to a privately owned corporation removes it from protection by Federal law and allows the owners to use the land in whatever way they see fit without regard to the effects of the use on surrounding lands and ecosystems. This fact has caused much controversy involving the business interests of Native Regional Corporations and the personal interests of local Natives and non-Native residents of Southeastern Alaska, such as subsistence hunting and tourism.
    Humpback whales-6-2.tif
  • Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeanglia) sounding, Stephen’s Passage, Southeast Alaska, USA.<br />
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The unusual and dramatic lighting was created by a forest fire hundreds of miles away in the Yukon Territory. The smoky haze drifted across Southeast Alaska during a rare period of clear weather, intensified the lighting and created a glowing band of light along the horizon.
    Humpback whales-3.tif
  • Early morning fog clearing at Point Gardiner, Admiralty Island, Southeast Alaska, USA.<br />
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Point Gardiner at the southern end of Admiralty Island was one of my favourite places to camp because of the commanding view across Stephen’s Passage and down Chatham Strait to the snow-capped mountains of Baranof Island. There are strong currents there with extensive kelp beds, and not far offshore a small island called Yasha Island, that was regularly used by Steller sea lions as a seasonal haul out, and my favourite place to observe them. Landing or launching my kayak anywhere around Point Gardiner was never easy because there are very wide wave-cut platforms and the coastline is generally very rocky.
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