The Alaskan Jewel! Welcome Aboard….You don’t Exist!

[jenseib]

I think we ended up getting 2 of these guys. I cannot tell you what they are but they aren’t good for eating. However, they are good to use as bait or to feed other species. They said they don’t let anything go to waste.

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This was the replacement all baited and ready to go out and take its place.

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Chief talked a bit about the fish.

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[jenseib]

But cut it short as we came into this area.

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You can’t see it very well but there is an eagle in one of the trees.

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They threw some fish out to lure the birds out.

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Mainly they would fly by and go back to the trees. They said because the salmon was running these guys were eating a lot and the fish they were throwing was not as appetizing.

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[jenseib]

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They explained how strong an eagle’s wings are. Not only can they fly but they can swim too. They said that if they catch something too big to pull out of the water they will swim with it in their claws and get it to land. They are pretty stubborn and won’t let go of anything.

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[jenseib]

After a while though they wouldn’t fly much. They realized what fish was being tossed and it wasn’t as good as the salmon I guess.

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A last try did lure some out again.

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Of course some just stared at us like we were crazy.

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[jenseib]

And then we moved on while Chief and Andy talked about these fish.

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He’s an ugly sucker, isn’t he?

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And I captured some more scenery.

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[jenseib]

And a jumping salmon!

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I know I have said it over and over…but I just loved the scenery.

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Up Next…Finally some crabs!

[CoolChange37]

Jenseib, I love your writing. It's been my bedtime story for many nights!!! Thank you!

Edited September 23, 2015 by CoolChange37

[jenseib]

Jenseib, I love your writing. It's been my bedtime story for many nights!!! Thank you!

 

Thanks!

[jenseib]

Finally we were coming up to the first crab pot!

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The guys went to work to drag it in.

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It is much too heavy to bring in without some mechanical help.

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As you can see there is an octopus in there as well.

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Something I did not know is octopuses are bad for crab. They kill them.

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[jenseib]

They pulled out some crab and then brought them around for us to see, touch and hold.

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A few were dead, probably from the octopus and those were thrown back in the water. They said other sea creatures will eat the dead ones.

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And they told us about the crab. There were a few different kinds and I don’t remember which was which or even all the names.

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How long can a crab survive out of water…..as long as it can before it dies. LOL. Yes there is no set time, but they can stay out pretty long.

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Claire was a little leery but she did take hold.

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[jenseib]

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Hello Mr. Crab!

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Skip was truly loving every minute of this.

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I took several pictures of him in many different poses with the crab. He was being super silly.

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I told Claire to take one of me and she took about 15.

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[jenseib]

After our fun we passed them on.

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And then it was time to say goodbye.

 

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Edited September 26, 2015 by jenseib

[jenseib]

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And we motored on to the next pot.

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Up next…this one is STINKY!!!!!

[jenseib]

As we moved on to the next pot, Terry the captain said something over the speaker. He had been making comments here and there via the microphone but this time it was the speaker like you hear on the show and I looked at Skip and he has a huge grin. It was cool to hear him on that speaker that they use to talk to the crew.

The next pot was pulled up and right away that thing STUNK!

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And they pulled out some crab and threw away a LOT of dead ones.

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Many had lost a leg or 2.

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Crabs can regrow legs. Often if there is an attack they will let a leg go to save the rest of their body.

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[jenseib]

One thing they told us was these crabs were actually caught back in Feb. and they keep them in the pots for the tour. Now before you worry about the crabs and being mistreated. They can get in and out of the pots if they chose to. Many stay in because they are being fed in the pot.

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They did mention that something, like an octopus, must’ve gotten in the pot as there were so many dead ones in there and the smell was so bad. The girls went to work rinsing off the pot and deck and the smell was soon gone.

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[jenseib]

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I swear this dude posed for me.

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Moving on once again we came to one more pot.

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[jenseib]

This one had some shrimp.

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Remember the ugly fish we caught earlier…..well here is one that was used for bait.

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Hello little shrimpy…You would taste good with some cocktail sauce.

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Edited September 27, 2015 by jenseib

[jenseib]

Claire had gotten a bit colder earlier and I had gloves in my pocket (something she swore she wouldn’t need when I offered her pair earlier that morning).

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When we tried to take the shrimp away from her he had clamped his claws into her fuzzy gloves. The girl had to help us pry each one off.

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And that was our last pot. We had another 30-40 minute drive back to the port but it seemed to go much faster back for some reason.

They guys told us they had prepared a lovely fish dish for all of us.

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Of course they were being sarcastic.

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Up next…… Our drive back to the port and Claire’s close call with death.

[Chelly]

Great work with the photos. Thanks!

[ourfamilylovescruising]

they didn't feed the eagles ?

 

that was the high light for us was just amazing my husband took over 300 pictures of just that

[JC5240]

Thank you so much for taking the time out to do this review. I am thoroughly enjoying it!! Your pictures are exceptional. Your family is so cute!!

 

I've never really had an urge to travel to Alaska, but for the past few months I've been getting the itch...your review definitely solidified it for me. My SO and I will for sure be planning a future cruise to Alaska!

 

100% following this review. Great job!

[jenseib]

Great work with the photos. Thanks!

 

Thanks

 

they didn't feed the eagles ?

 

that was the high light for us was just amazing my husband took over 300 pictures of just that

 

They did but because the salmon were running they eagles were getting better meals by catching salmon and the fish they were throwing just weren't as appetizing.

[jenseib]

Thank you so much for taking the time out to do this review. I am thoroughly enjoying it!! Your pictures are exceptional. Your family is so cute!!

 

I've never really had an urge to travel to Alaska, but for the past few months I've been getting the itch...your review definitely solidified it for me. My SO and I will for sure be planning a future cruise to Alaska!

 

100% following this review. Great job!

 

Thanks so much. I really try to give as much info as possible as it is how I like to read and research trips. I love visuals too.

 

You will have a good time. Skip says he can't imagine ever going on a Caribbean cruise again.

[jenseib]

Driving back to the port the guys were sharing fishing stories and tales. All very interesting.

They said the crab boats are pretty much used year round now a days as it cost $8,000 a month to let it sit. From what I got, if they weren’t using it to fish they leased it out to others to fish for different types of fishing and seasons.

As they talked, I walked around a bit. Claire said they talked about the octopus, but I missed it. But one thing she pointed out that I had not noticed (nor took a picture of) was the octopus had been put in a water tank. They said he was in time out for getting in the pot. The water was all clean when we boarded, but Claire said he “inked”. And sure enough when she had pointed that out I noticed his tanks water was very dark. I guess he was mad about being in time out. LOL.

I took pictures of the scenery and boat as I walked around.

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I decided to head down to the gift shop and Claire went with me.

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I ended up buying myself and Skip the white shirt (like Chief had been wearing). Claire declined. I guess she didn’t want people to know she’s been crab fishing. LOL! Skip had told me he didn’t want one, but I knew it was a lie and he was happy when I showed him his and of course when we got home the first time he went away with some friends to a Tractor Pull he was wearing that shirt.

[jenseib]

While in there Chief was in there as well and he was so friendly and talkative. We talked with him for several minutes. He was telling us how they have been doing these tours for 10 years now. Wow! I hadn’t realized that the show had even been on that long, though when I got home and looked it up; it has been on much longer than I thought.

He said the first 2-3 years was very slow and people didn’t realize what it was about and the show hadn’t caught on as much back then. He said once people started taking the tour and giving reviews the business just totally took off. They are one of the top excursions in Ketchikan now. Very highly rated on Tripadvisor too.

We told him how much we enjoyed the tour and we were so glad to have a chance to do it.

Chief was so nice and we talked for quite some time before we headed back out to find Skip.

We were now coming closer to the port.

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They said that we could get pictures with the crew…for free…with your own camera. People lined up, but we waited since the line was pretty long.

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I believe this is the Totem Pole Park.

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I am still amazed at all the planes and took another shot.

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Getting closer to port and we can see all the ships.

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