Our day in Hoonah started out in pea-soup fog. The fog horn sounded regularly as we dropped anchor in Port Frederick. The tenders puttered off into the fog heading in faith toward Icy Strait Point. Directly overhead there was a hint of blue indicating the prospect of a better day. After hours of laboring under the drone of the fog horn, the fog, just as Carl Sandberg’s described it on little cat’s feet, rolled back revealing a truly glorious, crisp, early-fall day. It was breathtaking. From the ship to the north you could see across Icy Strait toward the Chilkat Mountains; to the west every peak on the Fairweather Range was identifiable. It seemed as though you could not ask for more.

As planned I was to go to the bridge to watch for whales. Just as we pulled the anchor and headed out of the bay we were escorted by four humpback whales. They rose and dove gracefully as if in a choreographed farewell. Off in the distance was the Diamond Princess, it was heading east. The pilot on-board radioed to our pilot alerting him that they had seen lots of whales. This is a common courtesy to let the guests on other ships enjoy what they had seen, so after hearing this, I passed on the word to our guests. In the back of my mind I wondered if the little farewell delegation we had just seen was what the pilot was referencing.

Out on Icy Strait we continued to the west. Far, far off in the distance I saw several cottonball-esque clouds on the horizon; these “clouds” were too big and too far away to the the blow of whales. I grabbed binoculars. I could not believe my eyes. The horizon was filled with blow after blow of whales and the cottonbal-esque clouds were the splashes of whales breaching everywhere - again and again. Their bodies silhouetted again the setting sun looked like jumping beans popping up out of the water. It was insane! I was so excited I asked Cruise Director Ray Solaire to make a general announcement throughout the entire ship - this could not be missed!

As we continued to approach the area known as Point Adolphus it was evident there were over one hundred whales. They were on all sides of the ship. Thanks to ray’s announcement the decks and balconies were filled with guests and crew armed and ready with cameras and binoculars. Amazingly the advancing ship did not bother the whales, they carried-on as though we were not there. Clusters of up to twenty-five whales rose to the surface in intervals, their blow looking like smokestacks of an industrial city. I stopped trying to make comment as there were too many whales to keep up with. Whales were breaching so close to the ship the folds in their throats were clearly visible as were the knobs on their pectoral fins.

We continued to be surrounded by the whales for well over two hours. I finally called it quits when there were “only” six whales around the ship. I was exhausted. In 23 years I have never seen anything like it. When someone asks,”being out here on the ship for so long, does it ever get old?” My answer is always, “no”, exactly because of days like today.

It’s always like this in Alaska - isn’t it?

One would not usually associate drought conditions with the rainforest but it does happen. In the past decade The Amazon has been hit hard by two years of devastating drought conditions in 2005 and 2010. Not only did smaller tributaries dry up stranding isolated villages but dry conditions were responsible for some of the largest forest fires ever recorded. The photos are of Boca de Valeria in February 2011 and ten months later in December 2011.

We will hope that this year’s rainy season is plentiful and river levels are restored to normal levels.

Dear Terry:

Thank you for all of your informative newsletters – I enjoy them. Wanted to share a bit of news with you.

The United Nations has declared 2011 as the International Year of Forests (IYF) to “raise awareness on sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests.” So, what a perfect time to take a cruise to the United States’ most amazing rainforest of all – the Tongass National Forest – right at the peak of the season and during celebration of the forest?

In conjunction with IYF, the U.S. Forest Service has launched a year-long campaign for the Tongass National Forest, which is located in southeast Alaska and otherwise known as the ‘crown jewel’ of the U.S. Forest System, to bring attention to the critical resources, innovative programs, and celebrations that allow individuals to explore their backyard, celebrate their heritage, and find their inspiration day in and day out.

At 17 million acres (the size of West Virginia!), the Tongass is truly something to behold – the largest densities of bears and eagles in the world, some of our nation’s largest old-growth trees, the most visited glacier – Mendenhall Glacier, as well as Orcas, humpbacks, Stellar sea lions, and over 300 species of birds (over 160 breeding species).

Quite surprisingly, many visitors that see the Tongass never know that they have seen our nation’s crown jewel. Often, visitors speak about cruising up the Inside Passage, but never realize that the misty mountains, old-growth trees, and stunning array of wildlife that they are viewing are actually our nation’s largest forest –the Tongass, which encompasses nearly the whole southeast panhandle.

Now is the perfect time for Americans to learn about their forests – especially one of our best kept secrets, the Tongass – these are our Americans’ public lands and waters and we should be taking advantage of them. The Tongass provide residents and visitors world-class sightseeing, camping, hiking, hunting, wildlife viewing, fishing, boating, rafting, skiing, and canoeing, as well as offering cultural, natural, and historical resources – there are endless possibilities to explore. To learn more about the Tongass and the 2011 IYF programs that are being offered this summer, please visit: http://www.myalaskaforests.com.

Please make the 2011 IYF a success and share the connection between Alaska’s Inside Passage and our Tongass National Forest.

Alaska Wilderness League’s mission is to lead the effort to preserve Alaska’s wilderness by engaging citizens, sharing resources, collaborating with other organizations, educating the public, and providing a voice for Alaska in the nation’s capital.  

Also, we hope to be a resource to you about the Tongass National Forest, as well as Alaska. Feel free to contact me for additional information or with questions.

–Best, Gwen

Gwen Dobbs

Communications Director

Alaska Wilderness League

122 C St NW, Ste 240
Washington, DC  20001

After the recent unrest in North Africa and the terrible earthquake and nuclear disaster in Japan, the cruise industry has had to make some quick adjustments. Itineraries have been modified, ship have been re-routed and entire cruises have been cancelled. Our friend Captain Philippe Fichet-Delavault was literally stuck in-between France and Egypt whilst trying to board his Costa ship bound for Port Said.

The great thing about a ship is its flexibility; you are not traveling on a track, you can deviate. By so doing, cruise ships can avoid areas of concern from revolutionary outbreak to bad weather. The downside is that you can only deviate for so long before the ship needs to call on a port for fuel and provisions.

After the earthquake in Japan many were asking about how a cruise ship would be affected by an earthquake and tsunami. Luckily, earthquakes are fairly inconsequential to ships at sea as are tsunamis which are experienced as nothing more than a lump in the sea. For this reason, ships head out to open ocean after an earthquake. There have been many times while in Alaska that the ship I was on was told not to come into port following a small earthquake. The force of a major tsunami cannot be underestimated as we saw when large fishing boats and cargo ships were tossed around like toys in Sendai harbor after the quake.

At this point no one knows what is going on or what will happen with the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant which has recently raised its danger level to that of Chernobyl. Emissions are being monitored everywhere. Regarding tourism to places like Tokyo, the Japanese National Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism says, “Currently, the level of radiation in Tokyo City, Yokohama City, Kawaski City and Ichihara City (Chiba) were as shown in the attachment at very safe level to health.”  There seems to be no cause for concern over visits to southern cities like Kobe, Osaka, Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Though much attention has been focused on Japan and Egypt, cruise ships are also by-passing ports in Mexico due to violence. The popular beach town of Mazatlan has been taken off of almost every itinerary offered in the region, a fact that is bound to hit the local economy very hard.

For more on the topic, here are a few articles I found:

http://travel.usatoday.com/alliance/cruises/shipcriticblog/post/2011/03/Cruise-Industry-Cancels-Ports-in-3-Continents-Due-to-Natural-Disasters-38-Unrest/147919/1
http://luxurysociety.com/articles/2011/04/how-political-unrest-and-natural-disasters-are-affecting-the-luxury-travel-industry
http://www.cruiseindustryfacts.com/newsroom/relevant-news/safety-concerns-drive-travelers-to-cruise-vacations/
http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/egypt-unrest-cruise-lines-modify-itineraries/story?id=12810737
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/12/japan-earthquake-major-cr_n_834865.html
http://article.wn.com/view/2011/03/31/Cruise_lines_cancel_stops_in_Japan/
http://www.gadling.com/2011/02/01/breaking-another-cruise-line-drops-egypt-says-safety-first/

It was my 77x through the Canal but who is counting, right? As I say, every time through I see something new and this time was no exception. First off, one of our guests, Peggy Nathan, allowed me to read a diary she brought onboard from her grandparents who went on a cruise to Panama in 1913. This was one year, seven months before the canal was complete. Not only was the diary delightful to read there are old photographs of the family visiting the canal by train as it was still under construction. Now that is cool. I hope to use some of the excerpts from the diary in the upcoming Panama Canal book. Thanks Peggy!

Progress continues on the Third Set of locks that will increase the number and size of ships that can transit the Canal. Currently upon entering into Gatun Lake from the Atlantic side you can see the third lock chambers under construction. Look for the huge blue tin roof which covers the construction area.

All that was very interesting but that was not the something new I had seen. What was new on this trip? The water. Normally the water that fills the lake and fuels the locks is clear and clean. This time through it was opaque and brownish-red. The water that lapped along the shoreline in the Gallaird Cut looked like the Amazon. What was going on? In the entire history of the Canal it has only been closed three times; once due to a landslide, once in response to a military threat and most recently, December 10, 2010, it was closed due to too much rain! So much rain fell in such a short amount of time it was felt the locks could not operate properly so as a precautionary measure the Canal ceased operation for 24 hours. Almost a month later the lake water was still showing signs of the muddy run-off. Just another reminder Mother Nature is always in charge.

This article was taken from the August 04, 2010 Juneau Empire:

Cruise ship did not kill humpback
By Jonathan Grass | JUNEAU EMPIRE

Preliminary results of a necropsy have revealed a whale lodged on the bulbous bow of the Sapphire Princess cruise ship last week was likely dead before the impact.

An adult female humpback became lodged on the ship on July 28 while it was in Tracy Arm en route to Juneau. A team from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries and the Alaska Sea Life Center performed the necropsy on Friday to determine what killed it.

“Scientists found that this was a complex case, as evidence indicated that several events had likely transpired by the time the whale was found on the bow of the cruise ship,” NOAA said in a press release.

Lead veterinarian Dr. Pam Tuomi from the Alaska Sea Life Center and veterinarian Dr. Kate Savage of NOAA Fisheries agreed on the events that most likely happened, according to the press relase.

A missing pectoral fin indicates the whale made contact with a boat and lost the fin in the propeller. This could have led to debilitation or death.

A large absence of the ventral pleats in the lower jaw indicated that it may have been then scavenged by killer whales, which they are often targeted.

The examiners determined that the Sapphire Princess struck the whale’s body after these events, trapping it on the bow overnight.

While the necropsy was to help discover what happened to the animal, it was also used as a research opportunity.

“Our first priority is to try to determine cause of death,” said Aleria Jensen, NOAA Fisheries standing coordinator for Alaska. “But there is also a tremendous amount we can learn from an animal like this about, like, history, feeding habits, exposure to toxins and impacts from human activities. Stranded marine mammals can really be considered sentinels for marine ecosystem health.”

Samples from the skin, muscle, blubber, liver, kidney, ovaries, stomach contents, parasites, urine and feces will be sent to various laboratories to test for contamination genetic toxin exposure.

One of the eyes was recovered to help determine the whale’s age.

Researchers are also trying to match the markings on the tail flute to photos in Southeast Alaska whale catalogs.

The information released in Tuesday’s preliminary report is not definitive. NOAA said it could be several months before final results are reported.

According to this report, the necropsy was conducted under the umbrella of the Alaska Marine Mammal Stranding Network. This is part of a larger network that monitors marine mammal health and responds to mammals in distress and also to reports of dead ones. Its activities are authorized by the Marine Mammal Protection Act. As this case involves a humpback, it also works through the Endangered Species Act.

NOAA stated reports of ship strikes with whales appear to be increasing, and this could be an indicator of increasing humpback populations or improved reporting efforts.

• Contact Jonathan Grass at 523-2276 or jonathan.grass@juneauempire.com

The long awaited decision has been made, starting August 2011 ships burning heavy fuel will no longer be allowed in Antarctic waters. This ban will affect most cruise ships in Antarctica; and all cruise ship carrying more than 500 passengers.

Heavy fuel is the sludgy dregs that remain after diesel is refined. It burns less efficiently than pure diesel or gasoline and produces pollutants harmful to the fragile Antarctic ecosystem. Large cruise ships are built to use heavy fuel as it is less expensive than pure diesel or gasoline. Investment in conversion to lighter fuels would be prohibitive due to the high cost and the limited season – some ships call on Antarctica only once a year. The decision to ban ships carrying heavy fuel was made by the International Maritime Organization citing environmental factors. The decision will affect Princess, Holland-America,  and Regent. Small expeditionary ships that burn a mixture of diesel, gasoline and oil will still operate. Steve Wellmeier, Executive Director of the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators said in a statement to the press, “Largely, it will be the large cruise-only vessels that are affected, rather than the smaller expedition ships that most people think of as Antarctic cruising.”

Though the ban will reduce the numbers of visitors arriving by cruise ship from over 15,000 to 6,000, environmentalists are not convinced the White Continent is sufficiently protected. Small ships do burn cleaner fuel but their smaller passenger load requires more departures to move the same amount of people that would arrive on one large ship thereby contributing more pollutants to the environment albeit cleaner pollutants. The other factor of small ships is a double-edged sword — landings. Ships carrying more than 400 passengers have never been allowed to lower boats of any kind, no guests ever went ashore. Small ships do lower landing craft; trips by zodiac including shore landings where guests can walk among thousands of penguins or bath in beach-side thermal pools are a major selling point of these cruises. Biologists do not know what affect this human contact is having on the wildlife and the fragile ecology.

In the end, this ban is all about safety. Were a large ship to spill heavy fuel in Antarctica the effects would be catastrophic. Isolation and climatic extremes would make clean-up equipment hard to find and clean-up efforts even harder to implement. The fact is large cruise ships are more vulnerable, their hulls have been built for the Caribbean not Antarctica. Unlike small ships, they are not ice hardened nor do they carry survival suits, those bright red-orange, insulated and weatherproof jacket/suits seen in photos of Antarctic expeditions. Survival suits are warm and easily detected in case of emergency. As someone who has sailed around South America 37 times, I know that every cruise has passengers who come unprepared for the cold weather including Antarctica.

The Antarctic experience is like no other in the world and I hope everyone who wants to go will get the chance. It looks like the best way to keep that option available will be smaller ships with better prepared guests on ice hardened ships, burning more environmentally friendly fuel while visiting more regulated regions.

On March 5, 2010, I had the privilege of attending a meeting between Jean Michel Cousteau and Eduardo Braga, Governor of the State of Amazonas, largest state in Brazil. Governor Braga is a staunch supporter of tropical conservation and the development of sustainable rain-forestmanagement. The meeting was a follow-up to their previous meetings in Monaco and the Copenhagen Climate Summit. Also in attendance was Omar Aziz, Vice Governor who will succeed Governor Braga when he leaves office, Nadia d’Avila Ferreira, Secretary of the Environment and Leda Bozaciyan, Executive Director of Ocean Futures Society Brazil.

Governor Braga will be making a run for the Brazilian Senate where he hopes to expand his call for environmental reform. Later this month California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Director James Cameron, and Jean Michel Cousteau will be in Manaus to discuss how they can help spread awareness about global climate concerns. Tourism and the increase in cruise arrivals is an important part of the educational campaign.

Antarctica is not a country and therefore has no government to enforce laws. The continent contains the most pristine environment in the world making it the one place that would benefit most from enforceable regulation. In many ways it is similar to the Amazon, rich in resources scattered over thousands of miles of inhospitable land with no means of policing its vast area. Antarctica has only its Treaty to protect it, a continent larger than Australia.

Cruise ship arrivals to Antarctica have more than doubled in the past five years. The increase comes not just from more small expeditionary vessels but large cruise ships which account for the vast increase in annual visitors. Proponents of the big ships argue that they have less environmental impact because they carry more people per sailing thereby reducing the amount of pollution generated compared to the number of sailings required by a small ship to carry a similar number of people. Ships over 500 passengers are also prohibited from making landings.

Members of the Consultative Nations of the Antarctic Treaty are not convinced. They have grave concerns about larger ships in Antarctica. They say traditional cruise ships are not ice hardened, nor do they carry survival suits or gear onboard appropriate for the extreme weather were the ship to experience an emergency, and ships with external propulsion systems (azipods) are also more vulnerable to ice increasing the possibility of an accident. Were such an accident to happen the potential loss of life and environmental damage would be monumental.

This May, the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO) will meet to decide whether or not to prohibit cruise ships that burn heavy fuel from entering into Antarctic waters. That would eliminate all big ships and even some smaller ships as the burning of cleaner gas and diesel mixture would be too expensive. By approaching the issue this way, not only are heavy fuel pollutants eliminated but also the vessels that produce them along with all their inherent issues.

Going back to the opening remark, Antarctica is not a country and has no government to enforce laws. Participating member countries of the Antarctic Treaty uphold its guidelines; but they are only guidelines. Forty-seven countries have signed the treaty, but what about the rest of the non-member countries? Antarctica is like no other place on the planet and requires the cooperation of every country for its conservation and protection; I hope the international cruise industry agrees and will support whatever decision the IAATO makes in May.