Petersburg and Thomas Bay
Sundews, Labrador tea and deer cabbage adorned the drab green carpet of sphagnum moss in delicate bits of color exploding amongst the mucky grounds of the muskeg. The soggy ecosystem of Southeast Alaska seemed an anomaly under today’s bright blue skies. Yet, once docked in Petersburg, many of us donned our rubber boots and headed across Wrangell Narrows for our first bog walk of the trip. Here, in this complex system of rotting plants, we found throngs of cloudberries, junipers and bog kalmia. This fragile environment decomposes too slowly to provide sufficient nutrients for all its plant life and leaves some to fend for themselves. In today’s walk, we came across a beautiful example of this – the round-leaved sundew. The sundew produces a sticky fluid on its leaves, and waits inauspiciously for its prey. It captures insects, mostly small flies, and digests them, absorbing their nutrients.
While some of us had our noses in the mud, our less-terrestrial shipmates took off on a more high-flying adventure. Taking advantage of the beautiful weather, flight-seers boarded floatplanes and helicopters, gaining a different perspective of this pristine area. Glaciers and mountain ranges dwarfed the small aircrafts, as guests snapped away at their cameras.
The M/V Sea Bird left Petersburg just before lunch, and made her way to Thomas Bay, where we dropped the Zodiacs and took off for hikes and cruises. On land we ventured up Cascade Creek, along a dramatic waterfall, through the temperate rainforest. Our cruises brought us to the mouth of the river and around the cove, giving us an excellent opportunity to observe the Arctic terns. These migrating birds recently arrived in Alaska, and will stay through August to breed and feed before their massive migration back to Antarctica. Observing their feeding habits reminded us of the time, and we returned to the ship to tie on our bibs for a royal king crab feast.
Sundews, Labrador tea and deer cabbage adorned the drab green carpet of sphagnum moss in delicate bits of color exploding amongst the mucky grounds of the muskeg. The soggy ecosystem of Southeast Alaska seemed an anomaly under today’s bright blue skies. Yet, once docked in Petersburg, many of us donned our rubber boots and headed across Wrangell Narrows for our first bog walk of the trip. Here, in this complex system of rotting plants, we found throngs of cloudberries, junipers and bog kalmia. This fragile environment decomposes too slowly to provide sufficient nutrients for all its plant life and leaves some to fend for themselves. In today’s walk, we came across a beautiful example of this – the round-leaved sundew. The sundew produces a sticky fluid on its leaves, and waits inauspiciously for its prey. It captures insects, mostly small flies, and digests them, absorbing their nutrients.
While some of us had our noses in the mud, our less-terrestrial shipmates took off on a more high-flying adventure. Taking advantage of the beautiful weather, flight-seers boarded floatplanes and helicopters, gaining a different perspective of this pristine area. Glaciers and mountain ranges dwarfed the small aircrafts, as guests snapped away at their cameras.
The M/V Sea Bird left Petersburg just before lunch, and made her way to Thomas Bay, where we dropped the Zodiacs and took off for hikes and cruises. On land we ventured up Cascade Creek, along a dramatic waterfall, through the temperate rainforest. Our cruises brought us to the mouth of the river and around the cove, giving us an excellent opportunity to observe the Arctic terns. These migrating birds recently arrived in Alaska, and will stay through August to breed and feed before their massive migration back to Antarctica. Observing their feeding habits reminded us of the time, and we returned to the ship to tie on our bibs for a royal king crab feast.
