The area around Kodiak Island was proving to be one of the highlights of this part of the trip. We were quite happy to stay there another day. In the evening there were whales and the next day, more bears.
Photographing whales can be a bit tricky. You see a spout, grab the camera, point it in the correct general direction and then get to photograph the splash as the whale disappears under the water. Humpbacks can be a little bit easier. They surface briefly after blowing and then flip their tails up before diving. This is just about enough time to get the camera onto the whale. This is also why most of my whale photographs are the tails of Humpbacks. Fortunately, it is often possible to identify a whale from its tail. This is what a group called HappyWhale do. They use the patterns on the fluke of a whale to identify it and then maintain a database of where and when each animal has been spotted. People can submit their photographs and then every time one of your whales gets spotted you get a notification. Meanwhile, the database is fast becoming a valuable resource for studying whale behaviour.
The next morning was spent in Geographic Harbour on the south side of Kodiak Island. The weather stayed good and the bears were numerous. We floated about in the RHIB keeping a good distance from the bears. The bears took very little notice of us and were generally very occupied with the business of catching salmon. All too soon it was time to leave. The RHIBs were stowed and we set off along the Aleutian Island chain.