Wednesday, June 28, 1995
A leisurely morning starting with breakfast, another Alaska slide show and a shopping talk. We sat on deck sipping hot chocolate watching the scenery pass by. Then down to the dining room for lunch. By the time we finished with lunch the ship had anchored off Juneau, the capital of Alaska. Juneau is the only state capital which is not reachable by road (well, maybe Honolulu counts too). There are roads in and about Juneau, but all the cars must arrive by ferry. Most of Southeast Alaska is served by a ferry system which transports much of the goods in the area.In Juneau we took a bus tour. From the pier we drove to a Salmon hatchery. One of the largest hatcheries in the world, they have great success breeding the different types of Salmon. Over 90% of the eggs fertilized by the hatchery grow to be fish which are released into the sea. In nature the number is less than 10%. A vast majority of these fish are killed by nature or by man before returning, but of the 600 million fish released several million return each year. Some of these are harvested for their eggs and the rest are sold commercially. The hatchery has a small but interesting aquarium in its visitor's center. Outside the hatchery and throughout the tour we saw many bald eagles. Immature bald eagles (those without the white head) were less noticeable, but were often just as large. Eagles don't get their white heads until they are about 5 years old. At that time they mate for life and build a huge nest to which they return year after year.
After the hatchery the bus took us to
Mendenhall Glacier.
The glacier is a
valley glacier which means that it stays in the valley rather than moving
all the way to the sea. Mendenhall is created by the Juneau ice fields.
These ice fields began 3,000 years ago during a minor ice age. They feed
38 different glaciers. Over 100 feet of snow falls on the ice fields each
year. Ice from the fields takes 80 years to travel the 12 mile length of
the Mendenhall Glacier. Mendenhall is 1.5 miles wide at the terminus and
is receding a bit each year. About one mile beyond the current end of the
glacier is the terminal moraine, a mound of earth which marks the glacier's
farthest advance. We also saw some erratics -- large boulders dropped in
random places by glaciers. In addition, we saw plenty of kettle lakes
which are depressions carved by glaciers over hard, non-porous rock. The
depressions fill with rainwater and drain slowly, if at all. The result is
a small (or sometimes fairly large) stagnant lake. Like other glacial
streams and lakes, the runoff from Mendenhall is cloudy and filled with a
flour-like silt. This makes the water inhospitable to aquatic life, but
there were plenty of Juneau locals swimming in the water (along side the
floating ice).
The final stop on the tour was the Chapel by the Lake. A beautiful log cabin church with an incredible view. After the tour we took a tender back to the Crown Dynasty and spent some time napping and playing cards.
Our evening began with a reception for the Rice Alumni on the cruise. The biggest benefit of traveling with such a large group was the fantastic price we got on the cruise, but it was also nice to meet with an interesting group of people. After the reception we ate dinner and went to see a comedy show. The evening closed with the traditional midnight buffet.
Animals seen:
- Bald Eagles
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