Sailing south through Wrangell Narrows brought us to the small fishing town of Petersburg, Alaska. The town was first established in the 1890s when a Norwegian entrepreneur named Peter Bushman came to the area seeing then the potential its location. Petersburg sits near excellent fishing grounds as well as the Le Conte glacier, one whose many icebergs were once used to pack the fish on to send them down to the lower 48 states before ship trade. After establishing a cannery and saltery on Mitkof Island the area quickly became settled, earning the title “The town that fish built.” During our visit we were able to walk the fishing docks, venture across the narrows to the Kupreanof Island to walk through the muskeg and explore the town’s local shops on foot and through photography.
7/18/2024
Read
National Geographic Quest
Freshwater Bay, Chichagof Island
This morning before breakfast, the bridge team of National Geographic Quest spotted orcas in Freshwater Bay. Eager to see this iconic whale species, the bow was quickly occupied by excited guests, staff, and crew. We could not have asked for better conditions. A sunny, calm morning with at least a dozen orcas! Wow! After breakfast we went ashore at Kennel Creek on Chichagof Island and split into aerobic, moderate, and casual walking groups. After yesterday’s wet forest at Fox Creek, we welcomed the firm, dry ground of an old logging road. Along our walks there were abundant signs of brown bears. One of the two aerobic walks had fresh bear tracks on top of their footprints upon their return. In the afternoon cruising down Chatham Strait, we enjoyed time on deck soaking up the sun when an eagle-eye naturalist spotted a group of humpbacks ten miles away! As we approached, we could see that this was no small group, as twenty-three whales were bubble net feeding! This day will long be imprinted in our memories of wild Alaska.
