Alaska
Through the night we slipped over the aqueous border from British Columbia into Alaska. Light drizzle sprinkled the smooth gray sea of murres, loons and porpoises. By Zodiac we toured quintessential Pacific Northwest shoreline in Thorne Arm. Deep blue mussels, off-white barnacles and marigold rockweed banded an intertidal rainbow between ocean and rainforest. Bald eagles stood out as silhouette against skyline or white spots on green boughs. Silvery rounded heads of harbor seals slinked through the sea about us.
In Ketchikan we toured the Totem Heritage Center and Saxman Native Village viewing carved cedar poles of totemic animal expression. We pondered storied poles of old, now preserved under museum conditions, and ones being created before our eyes by local carvers. Along Creek Street where salmon run we walked the boards by houses once of ill-repute only shut down fifty years ago.
For an infusion of modern culture, famous Alaskan natural history artist Ray Troll joined us aboard the Sea Bird. Ray’s work expresses the nature of Alaska with a sense of humor, frontier spirit, and modernity while remaining faithful to true science and exhibiting an overt affection for fish and other wildlife. Through a narrated slide presentation we learned of this artist’s evolution from art student and canned salmon salesman to preeminent master of fish art. Ray’s clever illustrations teach evolution and natural history with humor in modern mediums that everyone can appreciate. We were lucky to have such a special guest aboard to introduce us to the nature of Alaska on our first day in this great northern land.
Through the night we slipped over the aqueous border from British Columbia into Alaska. Light drizzle sprinkled the smooth gray sea of murres, loons and porpoises. By Zodiac we toured quintessential Pacific Northwest shoreline in Thorne Arm. Deep blue mussels, off-white barnacles and marigold rockweed banded an intertidal rainbow between ocean and rainforest. Bald eagles stood out as silhouette against skyline or white spots on green boughs. Silvery rounded heads of harbor seals slinked through the sea about us.
In Ketchikan we toured the Totem Heritage Center and Saxman Native Village viewing carved cedar poles of totemic animal expression. We pondered storied poles of old, now preserved under museum conditions, and ones being created before our eyes by local carvers. Along Creek Street where salmon run we walked the boards by houses once of ill-repute only shut down fifty years ago.
For an infusion of modern culture, famous Alaskan natural history artist Ray Troll joined us aboard the Sea Bird. Ray’s work expresses the nature of Alaska with a sense of humor, frontier spirit, and modernity while remaining faithful to true science and exhibiting an overt affection for fish and other wildlife. Through a narrated slide presentation we learned of this artist’s evolution from art student and canned salmon salesman to preeminent master of fish art. Ray’s clever illustrations teach evolution and natural history with humor in modern mediums that everyone can appreciate. We were lucky to have such a special guest aboard to introduce us to the nature of Alaska on our first day in this great northern land.
