Cruise West Alaskan Tour - Ketchikan

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Cruise West Alaska Tour - 24/07/08 to 16/08/08

On the flight from San Francisco to Ketchikan we changed flights, saw Vancouver Island and had a good view of the Rockies. Beth got good photos of the snow covered peaks, but we do not know what their names are or if Mt. St. Helen is one of them).

Kechekan

Our Westmark Cape Lodge room gave an excellent view of the harbour. We did not take any optional activities but took the cable car to go down to Creek Street. These shops, built along the Ketchikan Creek (in Australia we would call it a river), are the most photographed part of the town. One of them was the brothel run by Thelma Dolly Copeland.

We visited a fish hatchery and bald eagle display. The Ketchikan Creek was shallow and a barrier made of closely spaced vertical rods across the creek diverted the salmon into the hatchery. Trout were not diverted because they jump over the barrier. A centre section of the barrier could be opened when the hatchery did not want to divert salmon. There were 2 bald eagles in a large cage. They were both female and could not fly because they had been injured. They are not bald, but have white heads. We were told that “bald” is an old English word for white. One young bald eagle had discovered that the fishery was a supply of free food and left the remains of its breakfast beside the pool each day.

The Tlinkit people were divided in two totems or moieties - Eagles and Ravens. The children have the same totem as their mother and marriage between two people of the same totem was forbidden. Our guide for the hatchery and eagle display was of the Eagle totem. Tlinkit boys were raised by their uncles and girls were raised by their aunts but this practice has faded. A young man who wished to marry a young woman was not court her but, instead, courted her mother and her mother's sisters. A woman was not allowed to speak to certain relatives such as son-in-law. Some people are trying to re-establish these practices.

There were many totem poles in Ketchikan. The practice only started after the Tlinkit people got steel knives when the trappers and others came into the area.

Our ship was Spirit of Endeavour; a “small” ship carrying 100 passengers rather than the large cruise ships carrying about 2000 passengers and perhaps 1000 crew. We chose this sized ship because we were told that it got in closer to the glaciers and into smaller passages.

A few hours out from Kechekan we met a large number, perhaps 20 or more, of killer whales (Orcas). The Captain stopped the ship while we watched and photographed them. The male ones had very long slender dorsal fins while the females had shorter and more curved dorsal fins. One of the males had a tall fin with two slight bends in it. We got the impression that each male was associated with two or more females, except the two males with the longest fins. They seemed to be solitary or occasionally swimming together.

A bit of trivia; we started the tour in Kechekan in cabin 321 and ended the tour in Fairbanks in room 123.

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Comments

[Esther]

They would be Mt St Helens and Mt Rainier? You'll be able to check on google maps! Stunning photos. Fasciating snippets about the culture!