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Southeast Alaska's many islands create a series of sheltered and connected waterways - a perfect, nearly unbroken passage for marine wildlife migrating from the south. The Icy Strait area, which includes Cross Sound, Icy Strait, and the lower, ice-free area of Glacier Bay, comprises the northern end of that migratory waterway, and an important feeding area for many marine mammals.
Visit the waters of the Icy Strait area in the summer and there's a good chance you'll see endangered humpback whales gorging themselves on their annual northern feast of plankton. The whales, as well as other marine mammals, are drawn by the biological richness of these waters - a result of a particular conjunction of warm Gulf of Alaska currents, complex shorelines and bottom topography, and extreme tidal energy. Each year in the late spring to early summer, an extraordinary bloom of plant plankton occurs for about two weeks. Animal plankton, starfish, sea urchins, worms and clams feast on the plankton, and many of these species time their reproduction to occur at the height of the plankton concentration. Vast shoals of small fish, including herring and capelin, are drawn to the animal plankton, and salmon, birds, and marine mammals such as sea lions and seals join in the feast, feeding on the profusion of small fish.
The terrestrial plant communities of the Icy Strait area are also an important component of the area's biological diversity, and the site is one of the best places in the world to study how plants return to a landscape after glacial retreat. A wide variety of plant communities have developed across the mainland and island portions of the site. Beach meadows, for example, a distinctive feature of the Glacier Bay area, occur when glacial retreat is faster than forest growth. Other parts of the landscape are in various stages of succession, and some areas have been ice-free for the last 13,000 years. These areas host mature plant communities, such as old-growth forests of Sitka spruce and western hemlock, which in turn support large mammals such as brown bear, Sitka black-tailed deer and the Alexander Archipelago wolf.
Our journey begins in the small coastal village of Hoonah Alaska, with one night spent at a local bed and breakfast, so that we can relax from our travels, and meet some of the locals of the area. From Hoonah, Alaska, we paddle our kayaks to Point Adolphus, which has the largest congregation of Humpback whales in the Alaskan panhandle.
The majority of our trip is spent exploring the north end of Chichagof Island, and the Icy Straits area. Humpbacks, Orcas, Stellar Sea Lions, seals and a multitude of other sea and bird life will be our companions on this journey.
Hoonah, Alaska
Hoonah is a Tlingit community with a population of 851 located on the northeast shore of Chichagof Island, 40 air miles west of Juneau. It lies at approximately 58.11 degrees North Latitude and -135.44361 degrees West Longitude. (Sec. 28, T043S, R061E, Copper River Meridian.) Hoonah is located in the Sitka Recording District. The area encompasses 6.6 sq. miles of land and 2.1 sq. miles of water. Cool summers and mild winters characterize Hoonah's maritime climate. The airport is closed 20 to 30 days a year due to poor weather; usually foggy periods in the spring and fall. Summer temperatures average 52F to 63F; winter temperatures average 26Fto 39F. Temperature extremes have been recorded from -25F to 87F. Precipitation averages 100 inches annually, with 71 inches of snowfall.
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