Spent a few hours on the water near Knudson Cove and Clover Passage and observed at least five humpbacks in the area.  A very elusive mom and calf were observed across from Knudson Cove near Pup and Clover Island.  Mom would dive for long periods of time while the calf seemed to surface more frequently.  Two more whales were observed feeding near Guard Island.  A third whale arrived as we were watching the two whales feeding.  We also saw spouting far out in the Clarence Strait and near Gravina Island.

Photographs were taken with a 600mm lens.    

Spent a few hours at Coast Guard Beach in the hopes of seeing more humpbacks in the area near Clover Passage.  I did see several long distance spouts and a breach near Guard Island, but the whales never came close to shore.  However, there was a group of sea lions who kept me entertained.    

Spent more time in the Clover Passage area and observed approximately eight humpbacks in the same general area.  There were two groups of three who appeared to be moving along together and two who appeared to be more on their own.  

Photographs were taken with a 600mm lens.  

One humpback was observed swimming south near Annette Island in Nichols Passage.  Photos are blurry due to distance.  

Spent more time out in the Clover Pass area and came upon what appeared to be a humpback celebration.  There were approximately 11 whales in the general area.  The whales were breaching, tail slapping, and slapping their pectoral fins.  The grand finale came when one of the whales breached approximately 150 yards away from our boat right at sunset.  It was a particularly beautiful sunset, and we watched in awe as the whale flew through the air with golden water pouring down its body.  We missed getting a photo of it, but it will be a moment we will never forget.  

We also saw a small pod of Dall's porpoise.   

Photographs were taken with a 600mm lens.     

Spent more time in Clover Pass and spotted the first humpback out toward the Behm Canal.  The water got a bit choppy so we started heading back to Knudson Cove when we noticed spouting and splashing near Clover and Betton Island.  Upon our arrival, we counted six feeding humpbacks in the area.  Two of the whales, who appeared to be the largest of the group, were thrashing their flukes on the surface of the water.  They would leave the group, but the two of them seemed to stick together.  The rest of the whales were lunge feeding, seemingly on top of each other at times.  The sound of all the blows and water movement was impressive, and we heard one whale "trumpet" as he/she surfaced.  After leaving the area we briefly went back out of Clover Pass and immediately saw four more humpbacks in the area.