Recommended Sitka Activities & Eats for 2021
“What do you suggest we do after getting off the water?” Find out what AU recommends for activities & eats around Sitka, AK! Updated for 2021.
Captain Tom On: Why Fish Sitka, Alaska?
A guy I know has been fishing king salmon from Washington, through British Columbia and all over Southeast Alaska for over 40 years. Until the early 90’s he cruised the coast in a live-aboard yacht fishing anywhere he wanted. He keeps meticulous records of every fish they catch and his catch rates. After careful…
Tufted Puffin
Last week, we asked the question of how fast a puffin can fly and how many times they can flap their wings per minute. These birds aren’t built for speed, but surprisingly, these little birds top out at 55 miles per hour. They also flap their wings at a rate of 400 times per minute.
To put their flying ability into perspective, the average duck reaches flight speeds of 70 miles per hour, but only needs to flap its wings 180 times a minute to do so.
A puffin’s main talent is swimming. These birds can dive to depths of 200 feet, holding their breathe for nearly a minute, and fit over 10 little fish in their mouth at once!
Here’s a video of their swimming talent in action. Thanks to everyone who participated in last week’s trivia. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s question to test your fish identification knowledge.
Bull Orca
Captain Bo captured an amazing slow-mo video of a beautiful bull orca cruising the surface near Klochachef Island while he was headed out to the halibut grounds with the Zeller party. Unbelievable shot!
Tons of Humpback Whales
I had to wait until I was 23 years old to see my first whale. The year was 1976 and we sighted a distant tail on a ferry crossing from St. Johns, New Brunswick to Nova Scotia. My kids didn’t wait so long because they lived in Alaska and the whale population had rebounded enormously…
Humpback Rebound
My brother-in-law and his wife had one big hope for their trip to Sitka – to see a whale. They live inland in Virginia. On day one we motored out on a flat calm ocean headed for salmon fishing 2 miles offshore. As we approached the grounds I spotted something odd looking on the horizon…