Today we anchored at an even smaller Alaskan port. We woke up with the ship already anchored but outside was just fog. As we ate breakfast, though, the fog started to burn off, and revealed a lot of logs in the water.
Klawock is a town of 800 people that Oceania and Tlingkit tribes are trying to develop out as a tourist destination. A couple we met said that this reminded them of Icy Strait Point from 25 years ago, when it was being developed, so I guess that’s the model they are looking for. I hope they succeed - it’s certainly more sustainable than fishing, logging and digging for oil.
Our excursion meets in the late morning, so we had time to prepare and head out to the tender. We were surprised how short a wait there was. There was a tent set up on the tender port to direct people to shuttles that get into Klawock or Craig, and others with drivers taking them to various excursions. But we were early, so we got to hang out around the tent to look at exhibits that they set up that talks about the town’s history. And there’s a beautiful view of the ship too.
Our excursion was to visit a salmon hatchery. There, the guide - who also doubles as an EMT for the town (since the town is so small, people have to pull double duty) - explained that the hatchery basically captures salmon as they swim upstream Klawock rivers to spawn, count
them, and then harvest their eggs. Then they would fertilize their eggs artificially, develop the embryos into frys, then put the frys in protected net in Klawock Lake (where they would have grown up) and feed them, then release them into the lake when they are old enough to
survive on their own (2 years). The aim is to decrease the mortality rate from fertilization to smolt. I’d be interested to know whether removing the selection pressure from parts of the life cycle (they’re basically not selecting for how well the salmon lay their eggs and frys avoiding predation) would result in a population that is reliant on hatchery.
We then hopped into Kayaks and went onto Klawock lake. It was a beautiful day; by then the sky had cleared and you can see the reflection of the surrounding mountains. We did see the hatchery containing frys from last year - you can see some of them hop up above water - but mostly we were there for the view. It was a small excursion, with only 9 people, so we each get our own individual kayak. It’s only now I realized my shoulder injury hadn’t healed completely - my left stroke is noticeably stronger than my right, so even when I think I’m paddling
evenly, I would veer right.
After 90 minutes on the lake, we went back to the ship. I was grateful to have our Antarctica gear with us - we were the only people in the excursion group that didn’t get wet.
When we got back to the ship, we were tired and the shuttle to Klawock and Craig would take too long for the journey to be worth it - it was already 1 and the trip takes 45 minutes, plus up to 30 minutes waiting for the shuttle each way, and we had to be back to the ship by 3:30pm. So we opted to have a sit-down lunch in the main dining room, and then go read by the pool (we were hot by that point). We did, and went to the hot tub, until the ship moved and it got cold. At which point I moved to the coffee station to read. Then it was time for dinner at the Italian specialty restaurant.
Wrangel and Kalwock are definitely more “raw” and less refined, but in a sense I prefer that to Disneyland-like feel of Icy Strait point. The excursions are a lot more education-focused. I hope these small town maintain their identity as tourism develops.
Klawock lake
Loading comments...