Friday, September 28, 2018

Alaska #10: Anchorage, Turnagain Arm and Whittier


Beluga Whale in Turnagain Arm
The next day, we headed down to Anchorage, leaving early in the morning of an absolutely glorious day.

It’s just a 2 ½ hour drive and we zipped through town once we hit the city limits, heading for Potter Marsh just south of town.

Turnagain Arm view

Potter Marsh

Potter Marsh birds on a log
Potter Marsh sits at the southern end of the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge at the beginning of Turnagain Arm and is known as an excellent birding spot. 

Potter Marsh
I walked the 1,550-foot wooden boardwalk that winds through the marsh, ponds and sedges photographing the birds that were there. 

Potter Marsh boardwalk
Compared to the other places I had been so far, there were a lot of birds. But, unfortunately, none were new for me. There were Northern Pintails …

Bottom's up!
Greater Yellowlegs …

A line-up of the usual suspects
Green-Winged Teals …

You don't always get to see so much green
Blue-Winged Teals …

See? No blue showing
Mallards …

But the Mallard is showing its blue
Glaucous Gulls …

Eating a dead salmon
... and some salmon, many of them already dead (I guess these guys were too tired to make it over the log) …

Late in the season there are lots of spent salmon
Moose are known to frequent the marsh, but we didn’t see any.

Turnagain Arm
After a nice stroll, we headed south along the Seward Highway with no particular destination in mind, traveling along the beautiful Turnagain Arm, a narrow branch at the north end of Cook Inlet south of Anchorage. 

Map: Google Maps
Extending in an east-west direction, it is between 40-45 miles long and forms part of the northern boundary of the Kenai Peninsula.

Scott waiting for the bore, 2013
Known for dramatic tide ranges of up to 40 feet, sometimes Turnagain Arm is a vast mud flat and sometimes it is lovely blue water. The flood tide, the second greatest after the Bay of Fundy tidal bore, begins with a wave with a height of up to six feet at times, running in from the west at 5-6 miles an hour. 

Back in 2013, Scott and I waited patiently to see the big bore and it was pretty much a big bore. But, sometimes it IS a big wave.

Historically, small steamers entered and left the Arm when the tide was high, sometimes getting stuck in the quicksand-like mudflats if they didn’t time their trips properly. Now, boats are fairly rare because most, if not all, the places that they went are now connected by road.

Turnagain Arm, 2013
Rugged mountains rise 5,000-6,000 feet on both sides of the Arm. Smaller river-carved valleys are narrow and steep and the larger U-shaped ones were formed by glaciers. 

Turnagain Arm
There are a number of glaciers hanging from the surrounding mountains, some extending all the way down to the ocean. The most accessible is the Portage Glacier, in the Portage Valley between the head of Turnagain Arm and Passage Canal. I visited the Portage Glacier when I first went to Alaska in 1989, viewing if from the observation deck by the Visitor Center ...

Portage Glacier, 1989
Now, it has receded so much that you can’t even see the base of the glacier from the deck ...

Portage Glacier, 2018
Turnagain Arm was named by William Bligh of HMS Bounty (as in “Mutiny on the …”) fame. Bligh was Captain James Cook's sailing master on his third and final voyage, in which he was looking for the Northwest Passage.

Turnagain Arm from Alyeska, 2013
Upon reaching the head of Cook Inlet in 1778, Bligh correctly surmised that both nearby Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm were the mouths of rivers and not the opening to the Northwest Passage. But Cook sent Bligh to explore anyway. 

In frustration, Bligh's crew named the Arm "Turn Again." Early maps label Turnagain Arm as the "Turnagain River."

From 1896 to 1898, there were a large number of placer claims staked on the streams tributary to Turnagain Arm from the north, and on a few of them, notably those on lower Crow Creek, mining was carried out in subsequent years.

Turnagain is popular with tourists and has a number of lovely turnouts and viewing areas. But, the road is narrow and winding – and prone to traffic slowdowns.

Glacier on Turnagain Arm
The morning we were traveling, we hit the Arm right when the tide was at its highest. I always look for Beluga Whales because I know they frequent Turnagain Arm. I have seen them at a great distance in Cook Inlet and Scott has seen them actually surfing the tidal bore.

So, I was thrilled to see something white splashing in the water very close to the shore. It turns out that it was about 30 Beluga Whales. We turned around, parked and trekked back up the highway, ducking behind the guardrail to avoid getting run over, until we made it to the Whales.

Belugas in Turnagain Arm
The Beluga Whale is an Arctic and sub-Arctic cetacean related to the narwhal. Belugas are also called White Whales or Melonheads based on their appearance and Sea Canaries or Canary Whales because of their high-pitched twitter.

Photo: Georgia Aquarium
The Beluga's stocky body is between the size of a dolphin and a true whale, with males growing to 11 to 18 feet long and weighing between 1,100 and 4,000 lbs. 

Females measure 9.5 to 13.5 feet long and weigh 1,540 to 2,650 lbs. 

They rank as mid-sized species among toothed whales.

The Beluga’s adaptation to the Arctic includes all-white color, which camouflages it among ice flows, and the absence of a dorsal fin that makes it easier to skim underneath the ice and also prevents heat dissipation. 

The distinctive protuberance at the front of its head houses an echolocation organ called the melon. 

The Beluga’s sense of hearing is highly developed and its echolocation allows it to move about and find blowholes under sheet ice.

Its body is round and tapers less smoothly to the head than the tail. The sudden tapering to the base of its neck gives it the appearance of shoulders, unique among whales. The tailfin grows and becomes increasingly and ornately curved as the animal ages. The flippers are broad and short.

Belugas have no dorsal fin
Belugas can live for 70 or 80 years, but they reach their maximum size by the time they are 10. Between 40 and 50 percent of their body weight is fat, which is a higher proportion than for cetaceans that do not inhabit the Arctic, where fat only represents 30 percent. The fat forms a layer that covers all of the body except the head, and it can be up to 6 inches thick. It acts as insulation in freezing waters, as well as being an important reserve during periods without food.

Unlike their white parents, baby Belugas are born grey and, by the time they are a month old, have turned dark grey or blue grey. They then start to progressively lose their pigmentation until they attain their distinctive white coloration at the age of seven years in females and nine in males. Calves stay with their mothers for about two years.

Top: Baby Beluga; photo: Georgia Aquarium; bottom: Baby Beluga in Turnagain Arm
Unlike other cetaceans, Belugas seasonally shed their skin. During the winter, it thickens and can become yellowish, mainly on the back and fins. When they migrate to the estuaries during the summer, they rub themselves on the gravel of the riverbeds to remove the outer covering.

Unlike many dolphins and whales, the vertebrae in the Beluga’s neck are not fused, allowing it to turn its head without rotating its body. This gives it a better ability to see potential predators and to catch prey in deep water. Belugas have 36 to 40 blunt, slightly curved teeth that they use not for chewing, but for catching prey, which they then tear up and swallow nearly whole. Belugas only have a single blowhole opening, located on the top of the head. It has a muscular covering, allowing it to be completely sealed.

The Beluga blowhole has a single, closable opening
Belugas are gregarious and regularly form small groups, or pods, that may contain between two and 25 individuals, with an average of 10 members. Pods tend to be unstable with individuals moving from pod to pod. These pods contain animals of both sexes and are led by a dominant male. Many hundreds and even thousands of individuals can be present when the pods join together in river estuaries during the summer.

Belugas are slow swimmers but can dive to 2,300 feet below the surface. Unlike most cetaceans, they can swim backwards. They swim on the surface between 5-10 percent of the time, while for the rest of the time they swim at a depth sufficient to cover their bodies. They do not jump out of the water like dolphins or killer whales. And, that makes them very tricky – very tricky – to photograph. That’s why I have so many pictures of just the top of Beluga whales.

The typical view of a Beluga
They are opportunistic feeders that frequently hunt in coordinated groups. Their diets vary according to locations and season but includes octopus, squid, shrimp, crabs, snails, sandworms and fish. The majority of the world’s 150,000 Belugas live in the Arctic Ocean and the seas and coasts around North America, Russia and Greenland. Most spend winters in the Arctic ice cap and migrate to warmer river estuaries and coastal areas when the sea ice melts in summer. 

A view across the Arm with a Beluga
However, the population in Cook Inlet and nearby Turnagain Arm are resident and do not migrate. They stay in the waters furthest inside the Inlet during the summer and until the end of fall. Then, in the winter, they disperse to the deeper water in the center of the Inlet without leaving it.

Mother and baby Beluga
The native peoples of North America and Russia have hunted Belugas for many centuries. Belugas were also hunted commercially during the 19th century and part of the 20th century. Currently, only certain Inuit and Alaska Native groups are allowed to carry out subsistence hunting of Belugas. Threats include natural predators including Polar Bears and Orcas, river contamination and infectious diseases. 

The Beluga was designated as "near threatened" in 2008, but the subpopulation from the Cook Inlet – to which the group we saw belongs – is considered critically endangered and is under the protection of the United States' Endangered Species Act.  

Belugas are one of the most commonly kept whales in captivity and are popular with the public because to their color and cute expression.


Photo: Georgia Aquarium
While we were watching, some other people taking photos were standing on the railroad tracks -- something I would never do on such a curvy track.  Sure enough, a train suddenly approached. It was scary for a moment.

At least these guys are not on the tracks
Whittier
Whittier
After spending a long time taking way too many identical photos of these incredible animals, we decide that it was too late in the day to head further south. So, we decided to go to Whittier for lunch at one of our favorite places, Varly’s Swiftwater Café.

Scott enjoys seafood chowder at Varly's Swiftwater Café
Whittier is an interesting town – it can be reached only by air, sea or via an Alaska Railway tunnel. Up until 2000, only trains went through the tunnel. Then, the tunnel was opened to cars during the time the trains were not coming through. 

Tunnel to Whittier
Toll is $13 per car going in; there is no toll coming out. At 13,300 feet, the tunnel is the second-longest highway tunnel and longest combined rail and highway tunnel in North America

The Whittier area was once part of a portage route of the Chugach people native to Prince William Sound. Later, the passage was used by Russian and American explorers, and by prospectors during the gold rush. 

The nearby Whittier glacier was named for American poet John Greenleaf Whittier in 1915, and the town eventually took the name as well. 

It is located within the Chugach National Forest, the second-largest national forest in the U.S.

During World War II, the U.S. Army constructed a military facility, port and railroad terminus near Whittier Glacier and named the facility Camp Sullivan. The spur of the Alaska Railroad to Camp Sullivan was completed in 1943 and the port became the entrance for United States soldiers into Alaska.

Alaska Railroad heading to Whittier
Two buildings that dominate the town were built after World War II. The 14-story Begich Towers was completed in 1957 and contains 150 two- and three-bedroom apartments plus bachelor efficiency units that originally housed dependent families and Civil Service employees. The Whittier School was connected by a tunnel at the base of the west tower so students could safely access school on days with bad weather.

The other main structure in town, the Buckner Building, was completed in 1953, and was called the "city under one roof. “ Buckner is now abandoned, but Begich Towers is still occupied and is, in fact, where the majority of Whittier residents live. The population of Whittier is slightly more than 200 people.

Whittier Harbor
Whittier's port was an active Army facility until 1960.

In 1962, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed a petroleum terminal, pumping station and 62-mile-long pipeline to Anchorage.

In 1964, Whittier suffered $10 million of damage in the 9.2-magnitude “Good Friday earthquake.” The earthquake caused a 43-foot tsunami and killed 13 people.

Whittier was incorporated in 1969 and became a port of call for cruise ships, including many of the ones that travel from Vancouver, BC, Canada. 

With a Subarctic climate and annual precipitation of 197.8 inches, Whittier is the wettest city in the U.S.

Glacier in Whittier
At the Swiftwater, we had some delicious fried halibut – and Scott had some of their famous seafood chowder. The food was so yummy that, on our way back to Anchorage on our last day of the trip, we paid the $13 toll to eat lunch there again. This time, because it was the end of the season, they were out of seafood chowder. But, they still had halibut and that’s all that’s important.

Lunch at Varly's Swiftwater Café
At the nearby dock, I saw one of Alaska’s ubiquitous Moon Jellies …

Moon Jelly
… and a couple of Black Oystercatchers, which I have seen before but never photographed …

Black Oystercatchers
Williwaw First Viewing
Following our time in Whittier, we stopped at the Williwaw fist observation deck along the Portage Highway where we both photographed and videoed spawning Sockeye Salmon.

Sockeye Salmon
I was using a small GoPro on a selfie stick and Scott was using my new Olympus underwater camera. What was fascinating was that the salmon swam away from the GoPro, but were attracted to the Olympus, most likely because the Olympus is red. To see the video, click here.

Scott taking a video of an interested salmon
Sockeye Salmon are the third-most common Pacific salmon species, after Pink and Chum. 

Sockeye Salmon
They can grow up to 2 feet, 9 inches long and weigh 5-15 lbs. Juveniles remain in freshwater until they are ready to migrate to the ocean, over distances of up to 1,000 miles. 

Sockeye are blue tinged with silver in color while living in the ocean, but when they return to spawning grounds, their bodies become red and their heads turn green. After spawning, they start to decompose and eventually they die.

Interestingly, the name “Sockeye ,” doesn’t refer to their eyes. Rather, it is an anglicization of suk-kegh, its name in Halkomelem, the language of the indigenous people along the lower reaches of the Fraser River in British Columbia. Suk-kegh means "red fish.”

The area around Williwaw is gorgeous. But, then, almost everywhere you look in that area is gorgeous.

A pond on the Portage Glacier Road
Next, let's go north!

Scott and me in Utqiaġvik

Trip date: August 17-September 4, 2018

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