Today is Wednesday, and I didn’t wake up till 7:30 AM. Unfortunately, Jane’s mother, Emily, developed nausea and vomiting during the night. She thinks it was the cheap wine we got last night. She took some Benadryl and went back to bed. Jane and I went to breakfast. We ate at one of the complimentary restaurants. Jane had fruit and pancakes. I had oatmeal, 2 eggs, and bacon. I had some juice and coffee as well. We went down to guest services and got customs declaration forms for Canada, even though we’re not going to get off.
Today, the ship stopped at Icy Strait where Jane got off the boat to do some shopping. I didn’t get off because I was wiped out from yesterday, climbing all the ramps and stairs. And I don’t feel well in the first place. After Jane left, I went to the 6th deck where there was a place to sit and blog. I saw out the window another steep ramp I would have had to climb if I were going to go. Icy Strait is interesting because it is the only fully commercial site on the itinerary. Its sole purpose is to entertain cruise boat passengers, and it has no other businesses or employees. It is operated by native Americans, and it’s only open when tourists are available to disembark from one of the large cruise boats. I suspected there wasn’t much to see in any case. The weather here looked nice. Temperature in the upper forties and the sun out some.
While I was sitting down on the sixth deck, looking out at the shore of Icy Strait, the crew had a safety drill. I had to listen to all the shrill alarms. Later, I decided to stand and stretch my legs and look for a good place to sit on the observation deck. I found one there and was able to relax, but I wasn’t getting cell service there. So I didn’t know when Jane had gotten back on the ship. Finally, I checked in by email and found out that she was at a restaurant. I should have known she would be getting lunch. See my related post about tech at sea. While she was at Icy Strait, she sighted whales in the sea. Her pictures were better than the ones from the whale watching boat.*
We went up to the cabin and took a short nap. I came back down to work in the library on this blog until dinner time. While I was working on the blog, Jane went to the casino and actually made some money. After we had dinner, I picked up a bourbon and sat down and did a little more dictating. That’s what I’m doing right now. I’ll pick up another bourbon to take back to the room with us and plan on going to bed sometime shortly after ten.
Here’s a summary of the main points from the Wikipedia page on humpback whales:
Humpback whales grow between 14–17 meters (46–56 feet) long and weigh up to 40 metric tons. They have long pectoral fins, distinctive tubercles on their heads, and complex songs produced by males during breeding season. These whales are known for spectacular breaches and surface activity. They migrate between polar feeding grounds and equatorial breeding grounds. Their diet consists mainly of krill and small fish, often caught using bubble-net feeding techniques. The North Pacific hosts four main humpback whale breeding populations: Mexico, Central America, Hawaiian Islands, and Okinawa/Philippines. Hawaiian humpbacks mainly feed in southeast Alaska and northern British Columbia. Targeted by whaling, their global population dropped to about 5,000 in the 1960s but has since recovered to roughly 135,000. However, threats such as entanglement in fishing gear, ship collisions, and noise pollution persist.
Wikipedia contributors. Humpback whale. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. June 12, 2025, 20:16 UTC. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Humpback_whale&oldid=1295280452. Accessed June 14, 2025.. Summary by Copilot