It was another lovely day in Southeast Alaska aboard the National Geographic Sea Lion. The sun greeted us yet again as we awoke in Frederick Sound near a beautiful little bay aptly named, Ideal Cove. Once breakfast was over, we set out in our inflatable landing crafts and headed to shore where we assembled for an assortment of hikes on Mitkof Island. The trail wound through a lush forest carpeted with ferns, mosses and false lily-of-the-valleys. Higher above the ground, blueberry and salmonberry bushes stretched out their leave-filled branches, an occasional few with delicate pink flowers beckoning winged pollinators. Higher still, the hemlock canopy crowded out all but the occasional Sitka spruce tree. Throughout the forest, song birds flitted about, perching from time to time to sing sweet flute-like phrases and warbling trills. A highlight was a red-breasted sapsucker that sullied from a perch in front of us and then landed on a nearby hemlock. From there it proceeded to tap the trunk with its chisel-like bill to create holes from which sap would soon flow and, ultimately, trap small insects for a later meal.
After lunch, we headed to Petersburg on the other side of Mitkof Island. Petersburg is an authentic Alaskan fishing town with ~3000 residents, all of them tied, one way or another, to commercial fishing. Despite its small size, the town offers a lot of things to do. Some of us headed across the Wrangell Narrows to nearby Kupreanof Island where we enjoyed a leisurely stroll through a muskeg bog. Others took a guided tour along the docks to learn about the various fishing boats moored there between fishing ‘openings’. The rest of us spilled out into town and rode bikes and meandered through the streets of Petersburg. Once our afternoon of activities was over, we returned to the ship to enjoy a Dungeness crab feast and an engaging talk by naturalist Paul North, which highlighted his time as a commercial fisherman in Alaska. It was an entertaining end to another great day.
