The (Great?) White Whale

The Beluga whale is a toothed whale (not a baleen whale) found in the coastal waters of Alaska.

The word beluga comes from the Russian word "bielo" meaning white.They are born dark gray and turn white by the age of five or six years.

They eat mainly fish, with occasional octopus, squid, and clams. They are eaten by polar bears and killer whales. Beluga travel in groups of up to 1,000 animals. They are very social with many vocalizations. Beluga have been known to migrate up freshwater rivers. Eskimos harvest beluga for muktuk (the outside blubber) and for oil for fuel.

This is the "social" whale? Obviously I would not be a beluga! :)

A Whale of a Journey

Gray whales migrate between California and Alaska every year. That’s a 10,000 mile journey!

Newborn calves are 16 feet and 1500 pounds. Gray whales are bottom-feeders, laying on their sides and filtering crustaceans through their hairy baleen plates. Their only predators are killer whales and man.

Many gray whales have scars from past battles with killer whales. In the 1800’s and 1900’s, gray whales were hunted almost to extinction (only a few hundred to a few thousand were left). The International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling in 1946 protected the whales so that they now number 16,000 to 20,000.

Alaska Wildlife: Did you mean THAT bird?

Penguins do not live in Alaska; they live in the Antarctic. Alaska has puffins and murres, both of which look a bit like a penguin.

Penguin















Puffin










The horned puffin is a seabird, coming to land only to breed. They have orange and red beaks and feet and are known as “sea parrots”. They nest on cliffs or in burrows dug into steep hillsides. They lay only one egg which is nurtured by both parents. They eat fish and zooplankton.

Puffin eggs are vulnerable to other birds and small animals. Puffins may abandon their nest if disturbed, so their colonies are protected by state and federal laws. They are also affected by oil pollution because they spend so much time at sea.



Murre







Murres are members of a group of black and white, duckshaped seabirds called auks. They spend almost all their lives at sea, and dive beneath the surface to feed on fish, squid, krill, and even marine worms.

Unlike ducks that propel themselves underwater with their feet, murres flap their half-open wings like they're flying.

Murres travel up to 6000 km / 3730 miles a year in migration, covering up to 1000 km / 620 miles of that distance by swimming.

But who's counting?

2 count 'em 2 months!

Alaska Creatures: Ice Worms

Fact 1 - YES, there really is such a thing!

Fact 2 - The ice worm lives in temperatures just below freezing. They can be found on the surface of glaciers at dawn, dusk, and on cloudy days.

Fact 3 - They are about an inch long and can be white, yellow, brown or black.

Fact 4 - Ice worms eat airborne pollen grains, fern spores and the red algae that lives in snow and sometimes colors it pink. Unable to exist at temperatures much below freezing, ice worms must remain in temperate glaciers.














Fact 5 - Ice worms were first described in 1887 on the Muir Glacier in Alaska. Famed Seattle photographer Asahel Curtis took pictures of worms on Mount Olympus in 1907 and dubbed them "snow eels."

A Plethora of Wildlife Facts

Alaska has over 430 species of birds, the largest population of bald eagles in the nation, and the largest land mammal in the world (the brown bear; the polar bear is considered a marine mammal). From pygmy shrews that weigh much less than a penny to gray whales that weigh 16-45 tons, Alaska is the Last Frontier for animals as well as people.

Alaska has the longest salmon run in the world (2,000 miles up the Yukon), arctic terns that fly 24,000 miles from Antarctica and back, and caribou that migrate 2,000 miles from Canada to their calving grounds in the Alaskan Arctic.

Although Alaska has an abundant variety of wildlife, the land itself is both harsh and fragile. It takes 100 square miles to support one grizzly bear living on the North Slope, and a willow in the Brooks Range may only have a trunk five inches in diameter although it is over 3,000 years old. Alaskan animals are incredibly interdependent with their environment and each other.

Did you know (re: wildlife)?

Alaska has NO reptiles (snakes or lizards) and NO rabbits (they are
all hares). A rabbit is born without hair; hares are born with
hair already. In Alaska, you need all the warmth you can get!

Alaska Fact du Jour

Alaska is closer to Russia than the 48 contiguous US states. Little Diomede Island (US) is 2.5 miles from Big Diomede Island (Russia). The mainland is only 51 miles from Russia across the Bering Strait.

Or to paraphrase Sarah Palin, "I can see Russia from my back yard."

Alaska State Bird

The Alaska state bird is the willow ptarmigan. (They chose a pretty unique bird!)

Ptarmigan are arctic grouse. The willow ptarmigan changes color from light brown in summer to snow white in winter for effective camouflage from predators.

Summer:







Winter:

Lessons We Can Learn from a Snowman

(We are going to count this under Alaskan humor!)

Lessons we can learn from a snowman:

• Wearing white is always in style - even after Labor Day.

• Getting outside in the winter is good for your health.

• It's fun just to hang out in your front yard.

• We're all made up of mostly water.

• Accessories don't have to be expensive.

• Don't get too much sun!

• If you're a little bottom heavy - hey, that's okay!

• In a confrontation, a hand-held hairdryer can be an effective weapon.

• You know you've made it when they write a song about you.

• If you look down and can't see your feet - you're probably not very active.

• Sometimes sweating too much can have disastrous results.

The OK Corral of AK

Subtitle 1: Infamous Alaskans
Subtitle 2: You Will Hear this Name in Alaska

Although many "proper" businesses came to Skagway with the Gold Rush (you know - saloons, ladies of the evening), the town soon also attracted another element.

Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith was a known con man and organized crime leader who gained his nickname by "selling" soap.

Piling ordinary soap cakes onto a display on a street corner, he began expounding on their wonders. As he spoke to the growing crowd of curious onlookers, he would pull out his wallet and begin wrapping paper money, ranging from one dollar up to one hundred dollars, around a select few of the bars. He then finished each bar by wrapping plain paper around it to hide the money.

He mixed the money-wrapped packages in with wrapped bars containing no money. He then sold the soap to the crowd for one dollar a cake. A shill planted in the crowd would buy a bar, tear it open, and loudly proclaim that he had won some money, waving it around for all to see. This performance had the desired effect of enticing the sale of the packages. More often than not, victims bought several bars before the sale was completed. Midway through the sale, Smith would announce that the hundred-dollar bill yet remained in the pile, unpurchased. He then would auction off the remaining soap bars to the highest bidders.

Smith quickly became known as "Soapy Smith" all across the western United States. He used this swindle for twenty years with great success. The soap sell, along with other scams, helped finance Soapy's criminal operations by paying graft to police, judges, and politicians. He was able to build three major criminal empires: the first in Denver, Colorado (1886–1895); the second in Creede, Colorado (1892); and the third in Skagway, Alaska (1897–1898).

When the Klondike Gold Rush began, Soapy moved his operations to Skagway. He opened a fake telegraph office in which the wires went only as far as the wall. Not only did the telegraph office obtain fees for "sending" messages, but cash-laden victims soon found themselves losing even more money in poker games with new found "friends."

Soapy opened a saloon named Jeff Smith's Parlor (in March 1898), as an office from which to run his operations, which included various forms of gambling, swindling, and graft.





After one miner lost a sack of gold in a rigged card game, locals had had enough and organized a vigilante. The vigilantes held a meeting on the wharf. Soapy began an argument with Frank Reid, one of four guards blocking his way to the wharf. A gunfight began unexpectedly, and Soapy died on the spot.

Although Frank Reid himself died a few days later, he was hailed as a hero for ridding the town of Soapy Smith. Both Smith and Reid are buried in Gold Rush Cemetery just outside town. The cemetery and Soapy's saloon are featured on most tours of Skagway.

Alaska Extremes

The highest temperature ever recorded in Alaska was 100 degrees F at Fort Yukon in 1915, and the lowest recorded temperature was -80 degrees F at Prospect Creek Camp in
1971.

Selected Nautical Terms

To get us in the mood for sailing, here are selected nautical terms (which we may or may not hear on the ship):

Abeam – At a right angle to the ship’s length; off the side of the ship.
Aft – Toward or in the back of a ship.
Ahoy – Greeting between sailors, a call used for hailing.
Astern – Aft or toward the stern (back) of a ship.
Beam – A ship’s breadth at its widest point.
Beaufort Scale – Scale of wind speed ranging from 0 (calm) to 12 (hurricane force).
Berth – A ship’s place at a wharf, dock, pier, or quay; a passenger’s bed.
Bilge – The almost flat part of the ship’s hull below the waterline.
Bow – The forward (front) end of a ship.
Breeze – A hurricane.
Bridge – The operational superstructure of a ship; the navigational and command center.
Bulkhead – A wall or upright partition separating a ship’s compartments.
Davit – A device used to raise and lower lifeboats.
Debark – To leave a ship.
Draft – The depth of water needed to float a ship; the measurement from a ship’s waterline to the lowest point of it keel.
Embark – To go on board a ship.
Fathom – A measure of six feet.
Fore – The front of a ship.
Gangway – Opening in a ship’s bulwark; a bridge laid from ship to shore.
Jetsam – Discarded material thrown overboard to lighten a ship’s load.
Leeward – Toward the side sheltered from the wind.
Manifest – The list of a ship’s passengers, crew, and cargo.
Muster – To assemble the passengers and/or crew on a ship.
Nautical Mile – One-sixtieth of a degree of the earth’s circumference. The international nautical mile equals 6076.1 feet; the US nautical mile equals 6080.2 US feet.
Pitch – Plunging in a longitudinal direction; the up and down motion of a ship.
Pilot – Person licensed to navigate ships into or out of harbors or through difficult waters.
Port – The left side of a ship when facing forward.
Ports-of-call – The places a ship stops during a journey.
Purser's Desk – A ship’s banking and accounting center, usually located in the lobby.
Quay – A berth, dock, or pier.
Roll – Side-to-side movement of the ship.
Starboard – The right side of a ship when facing forward.
Stern – The rear (back) end of a ship.
Stow – To put away belongings and other objects.
Tender – A vessel attending a larger one; used to ferry passengers to and from shore at ports-of-call.
Wake – The track left on the water’s surface by a moving ship.
Windward – On the side from which the wind is blowing.
Yaw – The horizontal movement of a ship from left to right that deviates from the course as set, usually the result of heavy seas.
Zephyr – The west wind; a gentle breeze.

Dubious Distinction

Alaska is home to 80 percent of all the active volcanoes in the U.S.

(In light of what's going on in Iceland, that may not be a distinction that you want!)

Bald Eagles

About half of all the bald eagles in the world are in Alaska. (Total world population is 70,000.)

Several sources point out that "Bald" does not mean hairless in this case - but rather white.
Early settlers mistook this bird for the European Sea Eagle; the scientific name of the bald eagle is Haliaetus leucocephalus, which actually translates from Latin and Greek into 'sea eagle with a white head.'



Our National Symbol:
The well-known image of the majestic bald eagle has been used on numerous official seals, buildings, coins and flags throughout the United States.

The bald eagle has a wingspan of 6-8 feet and can weigh up to 15 pounds. An eagle can spot a fish from over a mile away and can dive from the sky at 100 miles per hour.

Only adult eagles have the familiar white head and tail; juveniles of a few years or less have brown plumage and resemble a hawk.

Eagles are raptors. Their diet consists mainly of fish and waterfowl; they typical build nests near the water to be close to fishing grounds. Nests can weigh 2000 pounds. Eagles mate for life and can live up to 25 years.

Alaska photo experience and a bit of humor

I was excited to find an article in the May edition of Popular Photography magazine entitled, "Passage to Alaska." In it, a professional photographer described his experience photographing from his 22-foot boat. (He points out that he can get a lot closer to wildlife than on a cruise ship!)

He also uses a smaller inflatable boat which allows greater access.

My favorite quote:

I was unsuccessful the first year I tried for harbor seals in Tracy Arm...They saw my bright red inflatable a mile away in the iceflows, and slipped into the water before I got the chance to photograph them.

The next year, though, I covered my red pontoons with white shower curtains to look more like an iceberg. It worked and I was able to photograph seals...

Shower curtain camouflage! :)

Hmmm...wonder how many shower curtains it would take to cover the Norwegian Pearl?

Skagway History, Part 2

.
Garden City of Alaska!

Visitors have long remarked about the enormous vegetables produced on Alaska’s farms. Although most farms are now located near Palmer or Delta Junction, Alaska’s agriculture really took root in Skagway.

The height of the gold rush had barely passed when local residents began exercising their green thumbs. One family grew potatoes in 1898, and the following year a visitor gushed that “all sorts of vegetables are grown in the gardens” here. Local farms were prominently mentioned in several early Agricultural Department publications, and the town was seriously considered as a site for an agricultural experiment station.

It was flower gardens, however, that soon overshadowed vegetable production. By 1905, a White Pass railroad brochure proclaimed the beauty of Skagway’s “flowers, trim lawns and prolific gardens.” Local jeweler Herman Kirmse sponsored a local garden contest, which became so successful that many people from outside Alaska were attracted to it. The local Order of the Eastern Star chapter continues this tradition every August in conjunction with Skagway’s Gold Rush Garden Club contest.

In 1910, the Skagway Commercial Club declared the town “Garden City of Alaska.” The name has been used for many years, but the title was not official until Governor Steve Cowper signed the garden city proclamation in 1988.

The Garden Club is responsible for the row of mountain ash trees on the road to the ferry terminal and many of the flower boxes you see in the Historic District.

Skagway History, Part 1

A bit of Skagway History:

Skagway, one of America’s great historical shrines, played a key role in the dramatic Klondike Gold Rush of 1897-1898. For several hectic months, uncounted thousands poured through these streets on their way north. They were headed for Dawson City, more than 500 miles inland. Conditions were so rigorous that fewer than half of those who arrived in Skagway reached the gold fields.

For the first year of its existence, Skagway was a rough-and-tumble frontier port. Skagway boasted more than 80 saloons; gun play was common; the town was controlled by a gang of organized criminals. Civilization arrived when the White Pass and Yukon Route began constructing its railroad in May 1898, and it advanced when the criminal element was purged two months later. The WP&YR was completed to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory in the summer of 1900; by this time, the gold rush was over.

During World War II, thousands of Army troops were stationed here in order to supply materials for the Alcan (Alaska) Highway and other war-time construction projects. The railroad was the main industry in Skagway for more than 80 years. It closed in 1982, but reopened in 1988 as a summer operation. Tourists first arrived in 1898. The visitor industry remained small until the 1920s; since then it has grown steadily into a major economic force. The Klondike Highway to the Yukon was completed in the fall of 1978.

More on Skagway

Skagway is located at the end of the longest, deepest glacial fjord in North America and is considered the northernmost point in Southeast Alaska. Glaciers, and the rugged scenery they leave behind, create a stunning backdrop for your visit.



Skagway

Gold Rush Footwear

"You will need a pair of these!" LOL

Gold Rush Part 3

Did You Know?

No gold was ever found in the Skagway River valley. The actual gold fields were approximately 550 miles north, near the junction of the Klondike and Yukon Rivers in Dawson City. Skagway became known as the gateway to the Klondike gold fields, a bustling supply town.



Historic photo of Skagway







Over 100,000 people started off for the Klondike gold fields, but less than 30,000 actually made it to the gold fields in Dawson City, Yukon Territory. The difficulties of the Chilkoot and White Pass trails forced many to turn back.





Trail to the Klondike

"Golden" Vegetable

During the Alaskan Klondike gold rush, (1897-1898) potatoes were practically worth their weight in gold. Potatoes were so valued for their vitamin C content that miners traded gold for potatoes.

Klondike Gold Rush

...
You had to meet certain requirements before they would let you cross the border from Alaska into Canada during the Klondike Gold Rush.


The Canadian government required those going to the Klondike gold fields to bring a year's supply of food with them to avoid starvation during the long Yukon winter. Some of the recommended supplies included 400 pounds of flour, 200 pounds of bacon, and 100 pounds of beans!

Supplies for one man for one year -
Recommended by the Northern Pacific railroad company in the Chicago Record's Book for Gold Seekers, 1897

150 lbs. bacon
400 lbs. flour
25 lbs. rolled oats
125 lbs. beans
10 lbs. tea
10 lbs. coffee
25 lbs. sugar
25 lbs. dried potatoes
2 lbs. dried onions
15 lbs. salt 1 lb. pepper
75 lbs. dried fruits
8 lbs. baking powder
2 lbs. soda
1/2 lb. evaporated vinegar
12 oz. compressed soup
1 can mustard
1 tin matches (for four men)
Stove for four men
Gold pan for each
Set granite buckets
Large bucket
Knife, fork, spoon, cup, and plate
Frying pan
Coffee and teapot
Scythe stone
Two picks and one shovel
One whipsaw
Pack strap
Two axes for four men and one extra handle
Six 8 inch files and two taper files for the party
Draw knife, brace and bits, jack plane, and hammer for party 200 feet three-eights-inch rope
8 lbs. of pitch and 5 lbs. of oakum for four men
Nails, five lbs. each of 6,8,10 and 12 penny, for four men
Tent, 10 x 12 feet for four men
Canvas for wrapping
Two oil blankets to each boat
5 yards of mosquito netting for each man
3 suits of heavy underwear
1 heavy mackinaw coat
2 pairs heavy machinaw trousers
1 heavy rubber-lined coat
1 dozen heavy wool socks
1/2 dozen heavy wool mittens
2 heavy overshirts
2 pairs heavy snagproof rubber boots
2 pairs shoes
4 pairs blankets (for two men)
4 towels
2 pairs overalls
1 suit oil clothing
Several changes of summer clothing
Small assortment of medicines

Makes our trip packing list look like a breeze! :)

Skagway Video

More information regarding our 2nd port, Skagway.
One of several nice videos I found for Alaskan cities.

Fabulous video emphasizing Skagway Gold Rush history:

http://skagway.com/video.html

General information on Skagway:

http://www.skagway.com/

Alaska Little Known Facts du Jour

· Alaska does not allow billboard advertising.

· Alaska has the highest percentage of people who walk to work.

(Of course, not many highways on which to PLACE billboards!)

Alaska (Computer) Humor

.
Could apply to other regions as well...

Alaskan Computer Terms

Log on: Make the wood stove hotter.
Log off: Don't add no more wood.
Monitor: Keep an eye on that wood stove.
Download: Getting the firewood off the truck.
Floppy Disk: What you get from trying to carry too much firewood.
Ram: The thing that splits the firewood.
Hard Drive: Getting home in the winter.
Prompt: "Throw another log on the fire".
Window: What to shut when it's cold outside.
Screen: What to shut during mosquito season.
Byte: What mosquitoes do.
Bit: What the mosquitoes did.
Megabyte: What BIG mosquitoes do.
Chip: Munchies when monitoring.
Microchip: What's left after you eat the chips.
Modem: What you did to the weeds.
Dot Matrix: Old Dan Matrix's wife.
Lap Top: Where kitty sleeps.
Mouse: What eats the food in your pantry.
Mainframe: What holds the house up.
Web: The things spiders make.
Web Site: The garage or attic.
Cursor: Someone who swears a lot.
Search Engine: What you do when the truck dies.
Screen Saver: A repair kit for the torn window screen.
Home Page: A map you keep in your back pocket just in case you get lost when hunting moose.
Upgrade: Driving up into Atigun Pass.
Sound Card: One of them technological birthday cards that plays music.
User: Buddy down the street who keeps coming over borrowing stuff.
Network: When you have to repair your fishing net.
Internet: Where the fish get caught.
Netscape: When a fish gets away.
On-line: When you get the laundry on the clothesline.
Off-line: When the clothespin lets go and the laundry falls on the ground.

Humor of the Season

Shore Excursion #2 - Skagway

White Pass and Yukon Railroad

NCL details:

http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/shorexDetails.html?groupId=SGY_01

Vendor Website:

http://www.wpyr-ncl.com/whitepassscenicrailway.php

Shore Excursion #1 - Juneau

Have made shore excursion choices for all ports except Victoria. (May just explore on our own.)

Shore Excursion #1 in Juneau:

Mt. Roberts Tramway














Details from NCL:

http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/shorexDetails.html?groupId=JNU_40

Vendor web details:

http://www.goldbelttours.com/mount-roberts-tramway

Time Zone Time

Time Zones: Alaska has its own time zone, which is one hour earlier than Pacific Time. The westernmost Aleutian Islands are on Hawaii-Aleutian Time, two hours earlier than Pacific Time.

Related Tip:

Set Your Watch. Remember to set your watch to "ship time," which may or may not change when you cross time zones.

(Note: Apparently NCL changes to Alaska time when in Alaska ports, then changes back to Pacific Time when we are back in Victoria.)

Ten Stupidest Questions

Ten Stupidest Questions to ask on a cruise.

(And what'll you bet we hear some of these?)

10. Does the elevator go to the front of the ship? Generally, elevators go UP or DOWN. If you want to get to the front (which is the bow) of the ship you will have to walk to the front.

9. Is the iced tea hot? Do I need to explain this one?

8. Does the crew sleep on the ship? Not sure where else the crew would sleep except on the ship. The crew’s quarters are down, down, down in the belly of the ship. No passenger is allowed in the crew or staff’s quarters.

7. What is the elevation we are at? When you are on the sea, you would be at sea level.

6. What time is the midnight buffet? Another no-brainer that I even asked on my first cruise. The midnight buffet is at, say it all together, midnight!

5. Is the water in the toilet fresh water or saltwater? What does it matter, I wonder? Why don’t you taste it and get back to me on that one?

4. Does the ship generate its own electricity? There is a l-o-n-g extension cord plugged into the port you sailed out of… just kidding.

3. What do you do with the ice sculptures after they melt? To answer the question, the ice melts into… water. I don’t know what the staff does with the ice sculptors when they start melting. Lick them? Put them in the sink? Save the water for the toilets? I can’t answer those questions.

2. Is the island surrounded by water? Here is the definition of an island: A land mass, especially one smaller than a continent, entirely surrounded by water.

1. If the photos aren’t marked, how do we know they are ours? :)