Petersburg

Note to self: try again with a picture (Kelly I need your help!)

Petersburg..what can I say but picture perfect Alaska!  All that I pictured into my mind when I thought about Alaska was in this small Norwegian village.  (First settled by a man from Norway)  The town is completely surrounded by snowcapped mountains with a glacier flowing into the the Inside Passage.  Petersburg is still a small fishing village (known for their spot shrimp..yum). The town is untouched by cruise ships, so remains untouched by tourism.  We spent our day with Barry ( a marine biologist) on his small boat whale watching in the Fredrick Sound.  What an absolutely picture perfect day viewing over 30 humpback whales playing in the blue waters of the Inside Passage.  It is hard to describe the emotion that I felt as I witnessed these very large animals easily perform for us in seas over 100 feet deep! We were alerted to the whales when we began seeing several geysers popping up in the distance against the backdrop of the snowcapped peaks!  Then the sound...(like someone clearing their snorkels)..it sounds very musical when surrounded by several whales.  Then the show began...whales showed off their skills floating, fin flapping, breaching and of course diving to the deeps and showing off their tails.  Barry could identify the whales by the colors on their tails.  Their were moments on the boat when we could keep up with all the whales showing off their stuff!!!  Incredible...mother nature at her best!!!!  We ended our day viewing eagles, sea otters, birds, seals, fish jumping....We left Petersbury with a desire to return to this peaceful haven along the Inside Passage...