PART 8 AA (3-Part AA, BB and CC) , Monday, Sept. 09, Arriving in Ketchikan-

    At 8:00 am, the Orion pulled into the cruise ship dock in the lovely town of Ketchikan. Although after the wonderfully long day we had yesterday, we were feeling a little ad......this would be the last Alaskan town we would visit on our cruise. The cruise was coming to an end. We are going to spend the day in Ketchikan today, and then head for Vancouver in the afternoon. It was promising to be another beautiful day with mostly sunny skies and milder temperatures.

    

     A few days earlier, we heard on the onboard news station, that a major landslide had occurred in Ketchikan, and there were serious injuries and a fatality. The internet was down in the town which made the town isolated. That was sad news! It made the stop in Ketchikan all the more surreal. When the Orion steamed into the port, Jen and I saw this landslide above the small section of the town and wondered if this was the one in the news. Even if this was not the fatal landslide, it looked bad enough.....put things in perspective!

     As usual, I was up just before dawn, and started the day on the veranda watching the landscapes materialize in the gradual increasing morning light. I could make out the usual Gulls stirring around up and down the harbor area. In the distance I could make out the dimming lights of Ketchikan as we got closer to the town.

     It is now time for the "Dawn Patrol" and I got ready for the Merlins and Cooper's Hawks patrolling up and down the upper deck. Just on perfect schedule, the Sparrows and other Passerines began fluttering off the upper deck and making a direct line for the distant shoreline. I looked.....where were the Falcons?? At nearly the end of the mass exodus from the ship, the first Falcon arrived! Although this day, it wasn't a typical Pacific Black Merlin buzzing by the ship. This morning, the first Raptor to appear was a flying missile; a  Peregrine Falcon! The falcon screamed by so fast, I blew my first photo opportunity. I was expecting a Merlin or Cooper's, I never got the camera up to my eye. The Peregrine flew out over the harbor and turned to make one more run. I was ready this time. I managed a few (only a few) shots of the Falcon as it buzzed by out in front towards the bow, This was its final run, I didn't see it again!

      Late to the breakfast! A few minutes later with all the Songbirds having cleared from the upper deck, this Copper's Hawk appeared probably to give it a try. It buzzed the upper deck and not much happened. I started thinking.....If I were an immature Cooper's Hawk and I just saw a Peregrine hunting in my area......I would wait too! I would make sure that Falcon was long gone before I took to the air!! The Cooper's Hawk made a quick departure heading for the distant Conifers!!

     The Orion pulled up to the dock and was secured in place....8:00 am sharp! Gulls were fighting over perching rights on the lamp posts...... one species replacing another!

    Today, Jen and I booked a tour on one of the crab boats from the TV series "Deadliest Catch"! This vessel the "Aleutian Ballad" and the crew was one of the boats featured in Season 2 of the series. The Aleutian Ballad became famous when the boat nearly capsized after being hit broadside by a 75-foot rogue wave.  

     The crab boat is a slow and easy-paced tour in more sheltered waters in the protected waters of the Ketchikan area, far away from the raging Bering Sea shown on the TV show. The crab boat is set up as an onboard classroom with comfortable seating, large sea water tanks which hold some of the areas and Bering Sea Alaskan sea creatures for your education and entertainment. Its like a mini floating sea-quarium. Actual fishing and crabbing scenarios take place with the setting and retrieving of fishing trot- lines and crab pots all the while the Captain and crew are entertaining you with their stories of their struggles and near death experiences being a crab fisherman and living on the Bering Sea. Many of these sea tales are funny, and some or deadly serious!

    This 3-hour tour was perfect for Jen and I. Since Jen was her Father's first mate on the family's Lobster boat when Jen was in her teens and younger, this would be fun for her to be back home on a fishing boat with the only exception being this was in Alaska, not in CT! For me, I would be with Jen as well as a few more hours to look for seabirds! This was also the last boat tour on the cruise where I could get closer to birds. 

     Unfortunately, Jen's cold had not gotten better. She called back home to our Doctor's office and they prescribed an antibiotic. Since it would take an hour or so for the prescription to get through to the Ketchikan Pharmacy (internet was restored) she would have to miss the tour. She insisted that I go on the boat tour; I could tell her about it later and show her the pictures. In the meantime, she would call a cab to take her to the Pharmacy. We could end up meeting for lunch when the Deadliest Catch tour was finished. 

     The Aleutian Ballad was docked on the same pier and directly across from the Orion. All you had to do was walk off the Orion and step onto the Aleutian Ballad. Since I am a fan of the TV Series and I have seen every episode since it started on the Discovery Channel, I remember this crab boat and I even remember that episode where it was hit by the wave and nearly capsized. It was a weird feeling standing on this boat!

     A little while later, Capt. David Lethin and his crew boarded the boat and after a short introduction, the boat cast off and started out of the harbor. I could see Jen waving from the upper deck of the Orion.....her cab would be there in thirty minutes.

     On the show, they always mention that these large crab pots weigh around 800 lbs. Its hard to imagine this without by seeing them on the TV screen. Now that I have seen them up close and handled them a little bit......they certainly do!!

      Of course, you wouldn't feel like you were on the water unless yo got an escort form the Gulls, like this Short-billed Mew Gull. 

                                                   and this California Gull- 

                                                        Short-billed Gull

     The boat will go up the waterways a few miles and then show everyone their fishing techniques. They will run a short fish trot-line, retrieve a typical southeast Alaska Dungeness Crab pot that had set yesterday, and them retrieve one of the large Bering Sea pots to show us how it is done like we see on the show. Other than the usual Gulls and Cormorants flying around, I didn't see too much for birds until we came to a split in the waterways with larger more open water. 

     As soon as we approached this open waterway, Common Murre started showing up on the water.

     I like this Murre.....it must have been curious about the boat because it actually started swimming toward sit rather than away in the opposite direction! I gave me really good views to observe and photograph!

     

  Of course, when any boat starts fishing...... the Gulls like these California Gulls, are right there looking for handouts and spilled bait.

     At a point near a few small islands and islets, Capt. David announced that they would be setting out a short, baited trot line to see what fish they could catch in this area. They would let the line soak for about a half an hour so in the meantime, they would take a little wildlife cruise to see what they could find to pass the time away. 

      This one island had a few roosting Gulls on it; mostly California Gulls

    The Captain shut the diesels down as a courtesy so not to scare the birds and any Harbor Seals that may be there. The boat drifted slowly by the tip of the island, and a Pelagic Cormorant picked up its head alerted by this big blue object floating by his resting spot! Harbor Seal just behind it in the water-

   This trip to Alaska was the first time I have experienced Pelagic Cormorants. Such a beautiful sea bird with its brilliant shimmering green, bronze and violet iridescent plumage. 

     California Gull letting us know we were too close to his territory! 

                                                        And....... the Harbor Seals-

                             Pelagic Cormorants, Thayer's Gulls and a California Gull-

                         Good location also for Pelagic Cormorants, they were numerous here- 

     The half hour was up, time to head back to the trot-line they set earlier and see what was on the line. Many species of fish were coming into the boat one after the other. I don't remember what species they were. Some of the fish were released, the kept others for bait.

                                                  The very rare "Rockweed Cod"!

                                 More California Gulls looking for free fish! 

      And the steady procession of Pelagic Cormorants continued passing right by the boat- 

                                And more California Gulls. They were very numerous here.

    After the fishing demonstration was over, the boat started towards its next destination where it would retrieve the first crab pot. As the Aleutian Ballad passed by the point of a large island, the water was erupting with large baitfish......the Salmon had pushed them into the shallower water and were feeding on them. This seafood buffet didn't escape the sharp eyes of the local Bald Eagles! They suddenly appeared out of nowhere! 

                 Following the Eagles, came the Gulls such as this adult Thayer's Gull!

                                           More Eagles came to the area-

                                           ....... and more Gulls! Thayer's Gull-

        ...... this Thayer's Gull was upstaged by this large gorgeous 1st cycle Glaucous-winged Gull- 

        I photographed the complete step by step sequence of a Bald Eagle coming in to successfully secure a bait fish species from the top of the water- 

     After taking a short break to watch the feeding Gulls and Eagles, Captain David moved a few hundred yards to spot where they had set the first crab pot.

     When they hoisted the pot to the side of the boat and the sorting table (now a demonstration table), the pot was not empty....but was partially full with a catch of the oddest-looking Crab that I had ever seen! I was expecting Dungeness Crabs to be in the pot, not sure what these were!?

     Captain David said that the Crabs were called "Box Crabs" and they were a cousin to the large and more familiar King Crabs! They derive their name from their defense mechanism which is to pull all of its legs and claws in tight to the body to resemble a box.....just like a "Box" Turtle! He went on to mention that these odd Box Crabs are one of the finest tasting Crabs in the Alaskan ocean. Their meat rivals the taste of the most desirable King Crab. Unfortunately, there isn't a market for them due to not enough crab fisherman targeting them and of course their unsightly physical appearance is not marketable.  

      True to fishing.....pull the fish, the Gulls will follow!  Thayer's Gull-

                                                                California Gull- 

                                                                Pacific Herring Gull- 

                                                             Glaucous-winged Gull-

                                                   California Gull- 

                                     Even a few Bonaparte's Gulls joined the group- 

              After a short boat ride, the boat arrived at its next pot marker. This time they would demonstrate the Bering Sea crab pot procedure demonstrating with the crab crane, winch and basically the crab pot retrieval procedure shown on the TV show. The mate used the "hook" to grab the pot line and buoy, hooked it up to the crane and retrieved the giant 800 lb. crab pot. Everyone was leaning forward trying to get the first look at the pot and what may be in it!

         When the pot finally broke the surface......it wasn't filled with large exotic crab species. When everyone saw what was in the pot, everyone's reaction was surprise and excitement when realizing the catch was a friendly "touristy" set-up to catch everyone off-guard. The crab pot was not only a fun surprise filled with plastic King Crabs and a mass of hanging tags and markers with all the crab boat captains and the crews names that fish the Bering Sea. In a bittersweet twist, it is also a memorial for all the fisherman and crew that lost their lives in the Bering Sea whose names also blessed the numerous tags. For me, this was the best part of the tour....what a great and appropriate permanent memorial!!

     The crew lowered the pot back down to the sea's floor and its appropriate location, Capt. David came out on deck and started talking about the crabbing industry, and its past and future. While e was talking he pulled a few live creatures out of the live well tanks and talked about them and their natural history. His first choice was his favorite pet.....a Red Octopus.

                             ... the Golden King Crab, the golden prize of the Bering Sea!

      While one of the mates was walking around the boat showing everyone the Golden King Crab, I went back to looking for birds, and sure enough, a pair of Marbled Murrelets in the distance feeding along shore! Perfect timing! Great birds to end the morning with!

     Soon, the Captain throttled-up and the Aleutian Ballad was heading back to the dock. It took about twenty minutes and the crew was securing the boat to the dock. I have to say this was a really enjoyable tour so unusual but fascinating! If anyone gets a chance to do this short tour, you will be glad you did! I now have a much better understanding of the Deadliest Catch crab fishing industry. The Aleutian Ballad is only 107 feet long, not really a huge boat. But it is the size of most of the boats on the TV series and its amazing hw small this boat can appear in 50 foot seas and 50 mph winds! God bless all the Captains and Crew.....God keep them safe!

     Just as the Aleutian Ballad tied up to the dock, Jen was there to greet me. We walked up to the town square on the docks and decided to have lunch. She had successfully picked up her meds at the Pharmacy and had already taken her first dose. We ate lunch outside on the restaurants outside deck, and had Alaskan Clam Chowder and Halibut and Chips! What else....when in Alaska.!!

                                  PART BB continues........Leaving Ketchikan........,