Chatham Strait and Lake Eva
Yesterday in Petersburg, we noticed the lack of fishing boats at the dock. This morning in Chatham Strait we found out why. Within view of Kasnyku Falls, there were at least a dozen purse seiners, setting and hauling their nets for salmon. Usually fishing is only open for a few days at a time, so each boat hauls as much as it can while the opening lasts.
We spent the morning in search of more wildlife to watch and were thrilled to find brown bears cruising the shoreline at low tide. In one meadow we were able to see a female with three cubs, and two other solo bears. We were looking at the shore of Baranof Island, so it was easy to know they were brown bears. (You find only brown bears on Admiralty, Baranof and Chichagof Islands.) Even without that hint, it was easy to see the shoulder hump and how different they looked from the black bears we had seen earlier in the week.
By lunchtime we had dropped the anchor in Hanus Bay and went ashore to hike and kayak. The kayakers had a peaceful time drifting and paddling in the cove that leads to the small cascade. One of the highlights of the hike was walking along side a salmon stream. The chum and sockeye salmon adults were beginning their final run upstream. The sockeye were easy to pick out in the pools due to their bright red mating colors. The connection of the salmon to the ocean and the forest is remarkable. After a couple of years at sea and 1000’s of miles, the salmon are able to find their way back to their natal stream to mate. The forests around these streams and the associated wildlife are all the richer because of it. We are too. What a treat to visit an area where healthy and sustainable salmon populations are the rule.
Yesterday in Petersburg, we noticed the lack of fishing boats at the dock. This morning in Chatham Strait we found out why. Within view of Kasnyku Falls, there were at least a dozen purse seiners, setting and hauling their nets for salmon. Usually fishing is only open for a few days at a time, so each boat hauls as much as it can while the opening lasts.
We spent the morning in search of more wildlife to watch and were thrilled to find brown bears cruising the shoreline at low tide. In one meadow we were able to see a female with three cubs, and two other solo bears. We were looking at the shore of Baranof Island, so it was easy to know they were brown bears. (You find only brown bears on Admiralty, Baranof and Chichagof Islands.) Even without that hint, it was easy to see the shoulder hump and how different they looked from the black bears we had seen earlier in the week.
By lunchtime we had dropped the anchor in Hanus Bay and went ashore to hike and kayak. The kayakers had a peaceful time drifting and paddling in the cove that leads to the small cascade. One of the highlights of the hike was walking along side a salmon stream. The chum and sockeye salmon adults were beginning their final run upstream. The sockeye were easy to pick out in the pools due to their bright red mating colors. The connection of the salmon to the ocean and the forest is remarkable. After a couple of years at sea and 1000’s of miles, the salmon are able to find their way back to their natal stream to mate. The forests around these streams and the associated wildlife are all the richer because of it. We are too. What a treat to visit an area where healthy and sustainable salmon populations are the rule.
