The weather gods of the great land continued to bestow their weather blessings on us today, with clear skies and mild winds, as we continued to journey northward through Ernest Sound and into the Wrangell Narrows. This 21-mile narrow body of water is the southern entrance to the fishing village of Petersburg, snugly situated on the eastern edge of Kupreanof Island. With a population of approximately 3,300 people, many of whom proudly claim a Norwegian heritage, this authentic fishing village was our port of call for the day. Many ventured into town to explore the shops and museums, while others hopped on a bike for a fun way to explore the few roads, trails, and forest that frame this beautiful town. Others took to the skies for a flightseeing adventure over the nearby glaciers, mountains, and fjords, or hiked the boardwalk over the muskeg (aka bog) on nearby Mitkof Island. Our evening dinner was, of course, a Dungeness crab feast, followed by an evening lecture on the ecology of succession.
9/16/2022
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National Geographic Quest
San Juan Islands - Washington
We spent our final day in the San Juan Islands, a beautiful archipelago wedged between Washington State and the south end of Vancouver Island. We began the day by docking in Friday Harbor to clear U.S. Customs before exploring the small town that has become famous across the world for its iconic whale watching. Over the last couple of decades, the resident southern orca whales that have come to define this place have shrunk in numbers due to a variety of factors, including overfishing, climate change, and depleted salmon habitats. Hard-working people at the Whale Research Center and the nearby whale museum are working hard to educate the public and enact laws to protect salmon habitats and provide more space for the orcas among the boat traffic and people that love them so much. Many of us took the opportunity to visit the whale museum near the dock, where the life histories and family trees of these amazing animals have been meticulously documented for decades. In the afternoon, we cruised a short distance north to Jones Island, a marine state park with a maze of trails and campsites framed by a gorgeous forest of cedar, fir, and madrone trees. To cap off our two-week excursion through the Inside Passage, we sailed through the last of the San Juan Islands while an epic sunset bid us farewell.
