Petersburg & Frederick Sound
This morning we had a different wake up call, it was not Jason’s soft and nice voice over the PA, this time it was the bow’s thruster. The National Geographic Sea Bird was maneuvering to dock at Petersburg, a small fishing town found on Mitkof Island. Named for a Norwegian founder Peter Bushman and established in the late 1890s. Scandinavian flavor is visible in many corners of the town. During the 1980s Petersburg had the highest per capita millionaires in the United States; this was before the salmon prices decreased. Right at the pier some impressive fishing vessels were seen, such as purse seiners, trollers, crab boats and more. After our first meal of the day, we started our morning activities; a hike on a well maintained board trail up to a muskeg; which is the native word for a peat bog, biking around town or wandering into town for some shopping and good coffee.
During the hike we had a chance to learn about this unique ecosystem; carnivorous plants such as the sundew, bog crowberries, stunted pine trees, sphagnum moss, bog orchids, Labrador tee and many more, while we appreciated the great views of bald eagles, northern ravens and Steller’s Jays.
As we always do, a delicious lunch was served on board; Jason gave us some time off for a well deserved siesta, but we were awoken by humpback whales lob tailing, breaching and having fun. A young humpback put a great show for us; he must have breached more than twenty times and slapped his tail numerous times.
Tonight’s recap and dinner was a real treat, Judie Blewitt our hotel manager showed us how to best eat Dungeness crab without getting messy and we all followed her to the dinning room. For sure, another special day in Southeast Alaska!!!
This morning we had a different wake up call, it was not Jason’s soft and nice voice over the PA, this time it was the bow’s thruster. The National Geographic Sea Bird was maneuvering to dock at Petersburg, a small fishing town found on Mitkof Island. Named for a Norwegian founder Peter Bushman and established in the late 1890s. Scandinavian flavor is visible in many corners of the town. During the 1980s Petersburg had the highest per capita millionaires in the United States; this was before the salmon prices decreased. Right at the pier some impressive fishing vessels were seen, such as purse seiners, trollers, crab boats and more. After our first meal of the day, we started our morning activities; a hike on a well maintained board trail up to a muskeg; which is the native word for a peat bog, biking around town or wandering into town for some shopping and good coffee.
During the hike we had a chance to learn about this unique ecosystem; carnivorous plants such as the sundew, bog crowberries, stunted pine trees, sphagnum moss, bog orchids, Labrador tee and many more, while we appreciated the great views of bald eagles, northern ravens and Steller’s Jays.
As we always do, a delicious lunch was served on board; Jason gave us some time off for a well deserved siesta, but we were awoken by humpback whales lob tailing, breaching and having fun. A young humpback put a great show for us; he must have breached more than twenty times and slapped his tail numerous times.
Tonight’s recap and dinner was a real treat, Judie Blewitt our hotel manager showed us how to best eat Dungeness crab without getting messy and we all followed her to the dinning room. For sure, another special day in Southeast Alaska!!!
