JUNEAU, ALASKA

Juneau Info

The City and Borough of Juneau is the capital city of Alaska and has a population of nearly 32,000.  Between the months of May and September the population can grow about 6,000 daily from visiting cruise ship passengers, us included.   It is the second largest city in the US by area and is located on the Gastineau Channel in the panhandle of Alaska.  It has been the Alaskan capital since 1906 when it was moved from Sitka.  The area of Juneau is almost as large as Rhode Island and Delaware combined. 

Juneau is named after a gold prospector named Joe Juneau.  Mining began here in the 1880’s.  Juneau grew from the growth of state government once Alaska became a State in 1959.  The biggest growth was due to the construction of the Alaska Pipeline in 1977.  Cruise passengers have increased from 230,000 per year in 1990 to well over 1,000,000 now.  The economy is driven by state government which employs roughly half, followed by tourism, fishing and mining.  Another bit of trivia:  Juneau is the only US capital city that is not connected to the rest of the state, or even North America as far as that is concerned, by roads.  There is ferry service for cars however.

                                             This tram was just out of our balcony

WHAT WE DID TODAY

          Since our tour today was 6 hours long we had a more substantial breakfast of scrambled eggs with bacon.  We had been having just cereal and coffee.  We met on the pier at 8:25 am to board a bus and begin our, "Mendenhall Glacier & Whale Quest" excursion.  Mendenhall Glacier is 12 miles from Juneau and the only glacier in Southeast Alaska accessible by road.  It was not nearly as impressive as Hubbard Glacier which we viewed yesterday.  We came closer to the face here.  Mendenhall is only 12 miles long.  The Juneau Ice Field is 1500 square miles of ice that feeds 38 major glaciers.  The ice field get over 100 feet of snow every year.  There is a very nice Visitor Center with videos, exhibits, and panoramic views of the glacier.

                                      
                               This glacier is tiny compared to yesterday's Hubbard Glacier.

                                                    Blue glacier ice (no air in it)

                                                              Visitors Center

          After getting some photos of the Mendenhall Glacier, our bus continued through the Mendenhall Valley, past Auke Lake and on to Auke Bay.  Here we boarded a waterjet powered catamaran especially designed for wildlife viewing.  We headed out for Stephen's Passage to get up close and personal with some whales.  The main cabin was spacious, warm, and very comfortable.  They even serves us some snacks and beverages.  Funny thing is the operators of this excursion guarantee that you will see at least one whale or you will get $100 as you disembark the boat.  Tour has been going for 15 years now and has always saw whales.

                                     
                                                       Our tour catamaran

                                                  Bald eagle perched on this rock

                                                            Old light house

  It did not take us long to view our first whales.  There was a pod of 4 orca whales (also known as killer whales) that seemed to be playing.  There was one "bull" orca and 3 females.  The male (bull) averages 26 feet long and weighs 8 tons while the female averages 23 feet long and weighs just 4 tons.  We stopped for an half hour to watch them.  Sightseeing boats have to stay 100 yards from the whales and can only stay 30 minutes to watch a pod.

                                                        Orca or killer whale

                                                     Two orcas playing

                                             Their dorsal fin is very prominent.

The boats talk with each other and some humpback whales were spotted further ahead in the North Pass area so we proceeded there.  On the way we spotted these Stellas Sea Lions.

We arrived to find two humpback whales diving for food.  Humpbacks are characterized by the "hump" on their backs that is visible when they start their dives for food.  The female averages 50 feet in length and weighs 35 tons while the male is smaller, and averages 45 feet in length but only weighs 25 tons.  The humpbacks migrate to Hawaii during winters here but return to feed during the summer months.  Once they leave here for Hawaii they will not eat again until they return 6 months later.  The also have their calves while in the warmer Hawaiian waters.  A female can lose 30% of her weight during this Hawaiian migration.  While here in Alaska all they do is eat and easily spend 23 hours every day just eating.  They eat one ton of food (fish) every day.  First thing you will see when looking for whales is their "blow".  This is when they blow the air out when they are about to surface for more air.  This blow can shoot a watery mist 10 feet in the air.  They will then start another dive which can last from a few minutes to over half an hour.  You can tell they will be doing a deep dive as their "fluke" (tail) will come out of the water.  Our naturalist was very good and explained MUCH more about whales.  Too much for me to recall or put in print.

                                          You can see the "blow" in the two photos above.

                         Starting to dive,  Its back is arched (humped).  We never saw a head today.

                          Its fluke coming out of the water as it is going to be diving deep.

No two flukes are marked the same way.  It is kind of their finger print.  The chart below is all of different whales who return here.  You cannot read it but they have named most of the whales.

On the way back to the dock we stopped to see some harbor seals near the rock that the bald eagle was sitting on.

                          A white harbor seal at base of rocks.  The rest hopped into the water.

                                     Bald eagle seeming to be guarding this small rocky island.

This is the route we took on our whale watching tour today.  We had a great time viewing these amazing creatures.  Whale numbers are increasing now so they may be removed from the endangered species list soon.

I managed to sneak up on this bald eagle.  They are not bald but very distinctive with the white heads. They too are gaining in numbers.  We have seen many on this cruise.

It is now 4:40 pm and we are just leaving the pier and heading for our next port of call, Ketchikan. We will be arriving there at 11:00 am tomorrow.  We ran into Goran in La Veranda while having a late lunch after getting back from our tour.  He was grinning ear to ear and so happy.  The US Health Dept inspected the ship today and received a 100% score.  The Food & Beverage Director (Goran) is the man directly responsible for the cleanliness of ALL kitchens, food storage, restaurants, and bars on board.  Congratulations to the food & beverage team!!  Tonight we will be dining in Compass Rose dining room.  Our steaks last night in Prime 7 were yummy.  After dinner is the final production show featuring the Jean Ann Ryan singers and dancers.  It is called "Piano Men".  Last night's Le Cirque Navigator show was amazing.

I just missed seeing my son and daughter-in-law as they are also on a cruise (Princess) and were in Juneau yesterday.  Although the skies were cloudy today, it was a high overcast with NO rain. Juneau is known for getting lots of rain, over 100 inches per year.