![]() The longlines are laid on the ocean floor at the edge of the continental shelf at a depth of about six hundred meters. Longlining is a lucrative fishery for small boat operators in Southeast Alaska. And the fact they didn’t is a clue that big changes in how we think about whales are afoot. ![]() The scene was set for fisherman-whale relations to go into freefall. The valuable black cod-known as sablefish or butterfish due to their rich, silky texture-suddenly became much harder for fisherman to land. The recovering whales used the newly extended season to learn how to pluck fish off the baited longline hooks used by fishermen. The whiteboard behind Wild’s head mapped the tasks she needed to complete before teaching resumed in the fall. When we entered her windowless workspace, her dog thumped its tail on the ground and turned a few happy circles before settling back under the desk to nap. I had come to study whales.Īt 10:00 a.m., Lauren Wild let me into the rectangular university building and took me to a small cluster of offices in its depths that house the marine scientists. But I had not come to Sitka to study landscape. ![]() The mesmerizing scene could have absorbed me for the whole day. On the skyline, Mount Verstovia’s snow-streaked summit hints at the jagged beauty of Baranof Island beyond. Michael’s Russian Orthodox Cathedral pokes its oxidized copper dome above the jumbled roofs of Sitka’s high street. Float planes and kayaks steer carefully around each other, while bald eagles and ravens wheel overhead in the salt-scented air.Īcross the water, St. Fishing boats cruise slowly through the channel on the way to deliver their catch to local processers. It sits on one side of Sitka Channel looking east across the water toward the town center. ![]() The parking lot at the Sitka campus of the University of Alaska Southeast may be one of the most scenic parking lots in the nation. ![]()
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