Alaska Trip 2022 Day 2 -- Alaska State Museum and Macaulay Salmon Hatchery

We were up bright and early on day 2 of our epic adventure, but the weather was not cooperating.  Referred to by Alaskans as "cloud failure" or "liquid sunshine", it just seemed like a steady to heavy rain to us.  Since the weather forecast was for drier weather the next day, we decided to do inside activities today.  

Alaska State Museum.  First up was the Alaska State Museum.  It was conveniently located adjacent to our hotel, so it was easy for us to be there when they opened. 

The very well done museum was divided into "Native Alaska, Time Immemorial to Present", "Russian Alaska, 1741 - 1867", and "American Alaska, 1867 - Present".  There was also a changing exhibit currently featuring Alaska canneries.  There was a collection of stuffed animals at the entrance. Who knew that a sea otter was so big?!  It certainly seems to dwarf the river otters we have in Texas. 

I really enjoyed our visit, and particularly remember the native birchbark canoe, the waterproof parka made from animal intestines known as a gut parka, and the native woven baskets that could carry water!  I was also interested in the cross section of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline.  It is more than a simple long pipe.  It has metal fins to dissipate heat and keep the permafrost frozen.  The pipeline is on sliding rails as part of its earthquake resistant engineering.  We almost missed the life-sized eagle tree with nest in the atrium as we left, but loved that as well.

Unfortunately I was brain dead while at the museum and did not take any pictures.  You will have to take my word for it that it was very interesting.  

Macaulay Salmon Hatchery.  After a longer than expected (but good) lunch at the Sandpiper Cafe, we were off to the Salmon Hatchery.  The hatchery is 3-4 miles from downtown, so too far to walk.  The trolleys that formerly stopped there are not running this year due to lack of drivers, so we called our trusty taxi driver from the day before.  No one was taking him up on longer tours today due to the rain, so he was available essentially immediately to drop us off and later pick us up.  

The tanks for the small fish are inside, but the main attraction is the returning salmon coming in from the channel.  Although the fish ladders and large salmon tanks for the returning salmon are outside, there is a covering over the walkway where we could stand out of the rain to watch and take pictures.

Life cycle of fish at the hatchery.  According to the hatchery's brochure, fertilized eggs develop in dark incubation rooms beginning in late summer.  The eggs hatch into alevin (a new word for me) that have a yolk sac on their bellies which they feed off of all winter.  Fish outmigrate in the spring as smolt and are transported to saltwater pens for one to three months where they grow further and imprint.  The salmon leave the pens in late spring to early summer to spend their lives at sea.  They return after one to six years in late June through September to spawn.

It did not seem like there would have been much to see without the salmon returning.  However, they were definitely there en masse during our visit.  Huge numbers of salmon were in the channel and making their way up into the hatchery via a fish ladder. (see video below--I recommend viewing full screen)

 

Once at the top, they went under the walkway and into an additional pen.

 

The seals and sea lions in the channel were definitely taking advantage of all of the easy pickings.

 

The salmon cleared an area as this little guy popped up.

This harbor seal wrestled with this salmon for sometime.  I am not sure he successfully made away with it or not.

Even a very soggy eagle was watching from a nearby building.

 

A very wet eagle on the building across the highway.

  Needless to say, I had no idea salmon could look so ferocious.

Wow, what teeth!

I did not hear the guides say if there was more than one type of salmon returning.  Those that I could easily identify look like chum salmon.

Chum salmon in the fish ladder through the viewing window.

We were not at the hatchery for a long time, but we very much enjoyed our visit.  It was a great activity for such a soggy day.  If transportation had not been an issue, we might have visited multiple times, since the outdoor portion of the viewing was free.