Petersburg and Cascade Creek
Early this morning Sea Bird entered the northern entrance of the Wrangell Narrows on our way to Petersburg. A fishing community, Petersburg was founded in 1891 by Norwegian settlers, and is now home to more than 4,000 inhabitants. On our way into the dock we passed many salmon boats and we saw that the local fish processing plants were bustling with activity. Petersburg is surrounded by the Tongess National Forest, and just after breakfast we enjoyed a walk to a local bog. Bogs are important components of the ecosystem of Southeast Alaska, and we found many plant species that have adapted to survive in this low-nutrient environment. The most entertaining was the carnivorous round-leaved sundew, which catches insects as a means of gaining nitrogen and phosphorous. Also happening this morning were helicopter and floatplane rides around the nearby Leconte Glacier. Petersburg itself attracted a lot of attention with its pleasant streets and stores. Just before we left the dock, Dr. Fred Sharpe, a whale biologist, came aboard to talk to us about humpback whales, and he answered many of our questions about our spyhopping whale encounter of the night before.
After lunch, Melanie Heacox helped us get our Alaska facts straight during her presentation, “Welcome to Alaska.” At 3:00pm we entered Thomas Bay and headed to Cascade Creek for a short afternoon walk. The forest here was lush, and on the walk we practiced “looking small,” which paid off as we found some beautiful plants and fungi as you can see in today’s photo. It was a short distance to a lovely waterfall, and some ambitious hikers made their way up a steep trail to the top of the waterfall.
After our evening Recap we were treated to a fresh Dungeness crab dinner that was capped off by a crab shell sculpture competition. Our spyhopping whale from the previous night was the most common theme, and as the contest finished we were called out on deck to watch humpback whales that were lunge feeding. We watched this amazing behavior until the darkness shrouded our vision.
Early this morning Sea Bird entered the northern entrance of the Wrangell Narrows on our way to Petersburg. A fishing community, Petersburg was founded in 1891 by Norwegian settlers, and is now home to more than 4,000 inhabitants. On our way into the dock we passed many salmon boats and we saw that the local fish processing plants were bustling with activity. Petersburg is surrounded by the Tongess National Forest, and just after breakfast we enjoyed a walk to a local bog. Bogs are important components of the ecosystem of Southeast Alaska, and we found many plant species that have adapted to survive in this low-nutrient environment. The most entertaining was the carnivorous round-leaved sundew, which catches insects as a means of gaining nitrogen and phosphorous. Also happening this morning were helicopter and floatplane rides around the nearby Leconte Glacier. Petersburg itself attracted a lot of attention with its pleasant streets and stores. Just before we left the dock, Dr. Fred Sharpe, a whale biologist, came aboard to talk to us about humpback whales, and he answered many of our questions about our spyhopping whale encounter of the night before.
After lunch, Melanie Heacox helped us get our Alaska facts straight during her presentation, “Welcome to Alaska.” At 3:00pm we entered Thomas Bay and headed to Cascade Creek for a short afternoon walk. The forest here was lush, and on the walk we practiced “looking small,” which paid off as we found some beautiful plants and fungi as you can see in today’s photo. It was a short distance to a lovely waterfall, and some ambitious hikers made their way up a steep trail to the top of the waterfall.
After our evening Recap we were treated to a fresh Dungeness crab dinner that was capped off by a crab shell sculpture competition. Our spyhopping whale from the previous night was the most common theme, and as the contest finished we were called out on deck to watch humpback whales that were lunge feeding. We watched this amazing behavior until the darkness shrouded our vision.
