Monday | July 11

Klawock

“The white man must treat the beasts of this land as his brothers. What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, we would die from a great loneliness of spirit…for whatever happens to the beasts also happens to the man. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the children of earth.” --Chief Seattle, Puget Sound Suwamish Tribe 1854

More sunshine! We awake early and enjoy the slow cruise and docking at the pier in the town of Klawock, located on the windward side of Prince of Wales Island.

Our Tlingit hosts take us on a walk to see the totem-carving shed.

We also see the longhouse that holds the newly carved and painted totems.

A ¼-mile away behind the local shopping mall lies an empty lot that has dozens of old totems lined up in a row, exposed to the sun and rain. On the 1-mile walk back toward the ship, we visit the totem park at the center of town. Celebrations and pole-raising will take place in early August for 5 or 6 totems. Years of hard work and carving have gone into these amazing totems.

I have a couple of volunteers help me with a plankton tow on the pier. The pier lies in the middle of an estuary, where the river meets the sea. We can see the bounty of life floating beneath the ship including schooling fish, ctenophores and the lions mane jellyfish.

Back aboard, I set-up two stereoscopes and pour the contents of the plankton tow into specimen dishes for observation.

In the afternoon, we are back in Sea Otter Sound. Our wildlife spotters are able to find a couple of sea otter rafts. An announcement from the bridge alerts guests about a small-craft advisory in effect. Therefore, we won’t be crossing Chatham Strait over to Baranof Island.

As a result of the small-craft warning, we’ll be looking at an itinerary change that we all will be excited about. It sure is appreciated when folks on an expedition-style voyage have a flexible attitude, adapting to different circumstances!

The unknowns on any trip add to the excitement! Our expedition leader and captain spend hours pouring over the charts to determine what would provide the most interesting alternative (to sea-sickness and possible damage to items on the ship).

Spread the Adventure!