Prospective Petersburg Learning Center: In The Inner Passage of Alaska

The Bellows Foundation is is providing initial funding to determine the feasibility of developing a Learning Center in Petersburg, Alaska for summer terms.

Petersburg, with a permanent population of 3,100, located in the Inner Passage and 120 miles south of Juneau, has the dynamics and surroundings to be a unique pract learning environment. Large cruise ships cannot negotiate the neighboring channels, which help to preserve Petersburg’s original character. It is the base of a large commercial fishing industry of Norwegian origins and a labor force centered in the canneries, earning $7.50 an hour, which attracts young adults (many of whom are students) who frequently work 18 hours a day to maximize their income before leaving. Student immersion in the cannaries and aboard the fishing vessels would be a natural part of the practicum environment. There is also the potential for student immersion in the Tlingit culture in Petersburg by way of home-stays and treks with Tlingit guides.

Nearby, there is LeConte, the southernmost tidewater glacier in North America. Offshore, in Frederick Sound, is a large feeding location for approximating 500 migrating humpback whales.

Southwestern Alaska is a temperate rainforest, resulting in lush and exotic vegetation. Annual rainfall is 110 inches, half of which falls in October, November and December. The Petersburg area experiences 18 hours of daylight on the longest summer day. In the summer, day temperatures are approximately 60 degrees, dropping to 50 degrees at night, and water temperatures are as low as 38 degrees near the LeConte Glacier. Wildlife is in abundance: in addition to whales there are black bear, wolves, moose, deer, goats, bald eagles, trumpeter swans, Canadian geese, seals and sea lions. All in all, the biodiversity of the Inner Passage is extraordinary.

Transportation to the remote camps that are within kayaking range of the feeding grounds and LeConte Glacier is provided by DeHavilland Beaver floatplanes or powerboats based in Petersburg.

In the background, the Alaska Coast Range, including Devil’s Thumb, at 9,000 feet.

Rainsuits and galoshes are the routine attire to adapt to the temperate rainforest climate. The blue rubber skirts are worn during the kayaking in order to create a seal over the cockpit to prevent water from coming into the hull of the kayak.

While the rule is to come no closer than 100 yards from the humpback whales, no one has informed the whales, who routinely come to visit.

Heading toward the LeConte Glacier, which is calving large sections of ice that move down the fjord, melting along the way.

The water temperature is approximately 38 degrees. Air temperature is approximately 60 degrees.

This iceberg has tipped over, exposing the portion that was submerged, which contains very little oxygen. The blue hue will quickly change to white as oxygen permeates the ice.

Ahead, Le Conte Glacier comes into sight.

LeConte is a tidewater glacier spanning an area of approximately 180 square miles. This photograph was taken a mile and a half away, due to the dense icefield ahead. The lower part of the glacier, where the calving is seen, is approximately 300 feet high.