KODIAK, ALASKA

Doug and I took a one quick tour of the town and the surrounding area. Our tour bus was the local school bus. We had a difficult time scrunching into our seats.

Kodiak Island has had its' share of bad luck. In 1912, an 18 in thick layer of white volcanic ash blanketed the island and city, following the eruption of Mount Katmai. Some 52 years later an earthquake (1964 Good Friday Earthquake) hit the town which was followed by a deadly tsunami that measured 35 ft above the water mark. The residents watched from the hills as their fishing boats were tossed around like toys. But the locals decided to stick it out and stay and now there are approximately 7,000 people in Kodiak. The sun shines down on this island only 30 days out of the year. The remainder of the days are wet and foggy and overcast. Because of the town's great fishing port, there is little unemployment and the residents are happy going out in one of 700 fishing vessels catching salmon, king crab, halibut, trout and steelheads. We drove past 4 large fishing canneries which froze and cleaned the daily catch and sent it off to markets around the world. We also saw hundreds of crab pots sitting by the fishing boats. There are usually one to two fishing boats that capsize a year in vicious storms with deadly results.

We also drove past a beautiful bay. The surrounding trees are only the Sitka fir tree which is the only tree that will grow in this area. The average temperature is from 30 F to 60 F and doesn't fluctuate above that. The local school had to keep the children indoors because the Kodiak bears were coming out of hibernation and roaming around the school. The Kodiak bear, also known as the Alaskan brown bear, are the largest bears in the world, larger than our grizzly.

In the town, up on a hill, were two blue onion domes of the Russian Orthodox Church. We decided to enter the church and came upon two priests who were just cleaning up after the day's mass. One of the priests explained everything inside the church and was so friendly. The town of Kodiak has a seminary for the men who are becoming Russian Orthodox priests. This particular church has 200 parishioners but 2,000 baptized parishioners. Two of the priests looked like they were descendents of the Eskimo.

We also visited a very new but excellent Wildlife Centre. It was beautifully displayed and had excellent guides who answered all our questions.

Walking back to the pier to catch our tender, we came upon 3 Lion seals playing around the pier. They were having a great time and we also saw a bald eagle on top of the mast of a fishing boat. Apparently, you can see up to 400 of these birds circling around the harbour trying to catch any fish they can. As we were walking around the town, Doug and I had to bundle up against the cold winds that blow off the sea all year round. This was a reminder of what we left behind in Edmonton.