Salmon Time

We spent a week back in Petersburg to do a little maintenance and pick up our last set of guests for the summer.  The harbor was abuzz with fishing boats since the salmon season is now in full swing.20150805 9518 petersburg fishing boats at pfi 2 rPetersburg Fisheries, pictured above, is one of three fish processing plants in town and is the oldest continuously operating seafood plant in Alaska, started in 1899.

During the season the salmon fishery goes through a cycle where it opens for a number of days and then closes for a couple of days, giving the fishing boats a chance to rest, restock supplies, make repairs, and sometimes change their gear to target a different species of salmon.  One minute the harbor can be a ghost town with only a handful of boats on the docks, and then overnight the docks are jammed full and boats are moving around night and day as they land at the cannery dock to offload their catch at the appointed time.20150805 9520 petersburg seiner at pfi rSometimes the fishing boat delivers to the cannery directly, and sometimes they deliver their catch to a “tender”, a larger boat known in other places as a “buy boat”, that can hold a great deal of iced fish and can provide some supplies to the fishing boats.  The tenders position themselves near the fishing boats so it’s a short trip for the fishermen to offload their catch and resume fishing.  Once the tenders are full they make the longer trip back to the fish processing plants while another tender steps in to take its place out on the fishing grounds.

This past winter was very mild in Southeast Alaska and our spring was unusually warm and dry, so now we’re seeing how those things have impacted nature this summer.  The warm spring was too warm for the salmon so they stayed in deep cold water longer, making their arrival back to their spawning streams a few weeks late.  Fishermen saw poor results for the fuel and their hard work early in the season, though things have finally picked up now.  The warm spring convinced a lot of plants that summer was beginning (too soon!), and this year’s berry crop is early and particularly plentiful.  The bears are happy to have so much food available so they’ve been staying in the forest eating berries while they wait for the late salmon that are now just filling the streams to spawn.20150806 9611 salmon in creek rThese are king salmon (also call “chinook”), and they spawn at the end of their life cycle, in the same stream where they were born.  Salmon start out as a fresh water fish, spending a year or two in their home stream before they morph into a salt water fish and move to the ocean where they live for a few years – a different number of years depending on the species.  The last act in their lives is to return to the fresh water where they started life, fighting against the current and leaping up waterfalls to reach the gravelly shallows where it’s best for eggs to incubate.  After they spawn, they die, but their impact continues as bears, eagles, ravens, and scavengers eat the dying salmon, carrying pieces of fish well into the forest where the nitrogen-rich fish enrich the soil and keep the forest healthy.20150806 9619 king salmon trio returning r

The last effect of our mild winter and very warm spring is that plants got an early start on summer and now in early August they think autumn is nearing.  The Devil’s Club has its bright red berries, and many other plants are changing, preparing for winter.20150806 9551 devils club berries rThe rainy pattern is starting up again, but even on a misty day the scenery is beautiful.20150806 9537 blind river slough rOur friends Bill and Mary are cruisers so they’re not daunted by a little rain, and we enjoyed a picnic and some hiking on Mitkof Island.20150806 9549 rainy picnic bill and mary rWe’ll be heading south with them, heading towards Ketchikan with some adventures in Wrangell, Anan Creek Bear Observatory, and a few other interesting spots along the way.

Whale Tales

20150725 9411 whale tail landscape rADVENTURES headed south towards Cape Fanshaw to anchor for the night, running later into the evening to stay ahead of a big weather front that was approaching.  Once again we saw at least 40-50 humpback whales, blowing and diving in every direction.  Some popped up quite close to us…20150725 9424 whale back very close r…which can be rather alarming since a humpback is about 45′ long and weighs almost as much as ADVENTURES does!  Whales were slapping their long pectoral fins on the water, making great splashes…20150725 9396 whale pec slap 2 r…and we saw some whales tail-slapping as well.  In one case, we noticed tail-slapping that was different – urgent and insistent.  The whale was a good distance from us, but we slowed the boat to watch.  Other whales began to converge on the tail-slapping whale, and we spotted a few orcas near them.  As we watched through binoculars, we saw the water splashing turn from frothy white to red, so we assume the orcas were hunting a young or sick whale.  It’s sobering, but it’s nature, and every creature has to eat.20150725 9387 orca close 2 rAs we continued to cruise along we spotted some humpbacks closer to us, breaching.20150725 9413 whale breach 1 rIt’s a tremendous thrill to see 30 tons of whale come leaping completely out of the water, though that first breach is such a surprise that it’s nearly impossible to get a photo of it.  Fortunately one breach is often followed by a few more, though each successive one is usually less dramatic than the one before.  It takes a few moments to gather enough composure to grab a camera and run outside.20150725 9417 breaching whale 5 closer rAnother whale was diving and blowing as we cruised into our anchorage in Cleveland Passage, putting a nice finish on a great day.20150725 9433 whale tail 2 rThe next morning we cruised a few hours to Petersburg, staying just ahead of the weather and enjoying flat calm seas.  Once we arrived and settled in, the rain started.  Petersburg set a record for a lack of rain in the month of May and now Mother Nature is making up for it with heavier-than-normal rain.  It’s a rainforest – we shouldn’t be too surprised.

Despite the weather we headed out to explore Mitkof Island and do a little hiking, to stretch our legs after so many days on the boat.  We spotted some grouse and a number of deer with their new velvety antlers.20150728 9515 young buck 2 rWe tried to hike on trails in the woods rather than the more open muskeg in the hopes that the canopy would help keep us a little more dry, but the rain managed to penetrate quite well.  Our friends are used to camping and hiking in the rain (it’s a family curse kind of thing), but the deluge eventually dampened spirits enough that we gave up plans for a longer hike.20150728 9497 soggy hike trio rI love the look of the woods in the rain – this far into the summer the skunk cabbage is huge and everything is green and lush.  The thick forest looks almost prehistoric, and you can imagine that a giant dinosaur might be around the next corner.  Instead we know that the giants are out there in the Inside Passage – leaping and splashing.