Le Conte Bay and Petersburg, Alaska
As the early morning misty clouds decorated the mountains, the National Geographic Sea Bird approached the mouth of LeConte Bay for our morning activity. Ice tours, as we like to call them, were a hit with everyone. Dark clouds with sunlight peaking through them, low hanging mists and deep blue icebergs made the morning both spectacular and serene. We looked from all angles, finding with each new view that there was something even more beautiful to photograph. Like the game we played as children, of lying on our backs finding shapes in the clouds, we enjoyed finding unlikely animals in Southeast Alaska this morning. (How many people see elephants in Alaska, for example?) Bonaparte’s gulls and black-legged kittiwakes were gathering in large flocks. These small gulls that nest in Alaska in the summer are now in their winter plumage. Nesting season is well over and the gulls, like us, are heading south.
After lunch we visited the community of Petersburg. This fishing town, with a Norwegian heritage, offered something for everyone. The colorful fishing boats and the picturesque town caught our eyes and our cameras. One group went “on assignment” with Ralph Lee Hopkins, our National Geographic photographer, to take up the challenge of representing Petersburg in just five photos. We also strolled the docks, learning about the lifeblood of this community – salmon fishing. Each boat had its own story to tell through its size, shape and fishing gear.
In the late afternoon we enjoyed the transit of Wrangell Narrows, a short and narrow cut between Kupreanof and Mitkof Islands. Kendra Nelson, the Chief Mate, was out on the bow to explain some of the intricacies of navigation, especially how the range markers and buoys help in the narrow channel.
