So I know this is technically an astronomy blog but it appears The Land of the Midnight Sun is famous for more than its seasonal light extremes and displays. Apparently it’s pretty well known for its fish. And a few other critters besides. So with one day left in the Last Frontier here’s our critter count so far.
Spotted: Grizzly and Black Bears, Mountain Goats and Dall Sheep, Moose and Reindeer (aka caribou), Beluga Whales and Porpoise, Endangered Stellers Sea Lions and Harbor Seals, Otters and Beavers, Golden and Bald Eagles, Ptarmigans and Puffins, Sand Hill Cranes and Swans.
Caughted: 12 Rainbow Trout, 1 Northern Pike, 22 Arctic Grayling, 8 Ling Cod, and 16 Salmon
Notice we only have actual numerical tallies for the fish. We really only have clear pictures for the fish as well. And of fish pictures there are too many to count. Priorities, right?
But since this is technically an astronomy blog, here a few sunrise and sunset scenes to sum up our Great Alaska Adventure.
Goodbye Alaska. You were a thousand times more beautiful than we ever imagined.
godmadeknown 
THOSE fish ARE ENORMOUS!
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We’ve got to get your little fisher-gal, Lucy, up there too! She’d charm all those Alaska fish right onto the hook , no sweat.
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What an adventure!
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That just about sums up every day with Lord, doesn’t it Sandy?
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Julie, I have to download all these pictures, make large 5X7 prints and place them in a special album. What a spectacle! Talk about evidence for supernatural creation! Talk about an exhibit of God’s wonderful imagination in the creation of fish alone. Then the rivers, the lakes, the colored hillsides above! WOW!
OPA Jim
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Oh dear. While you are absolutely correct about those pictures being evidence for supernatural creation they are hardly the stuff of enlarged prints. Unfortunately they were all taken on my ipod or cell phone so the quality is very poor. Titus took some much better ones with his “real” camera that are far more print-worthy. But thanks for liking them 🙂
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This is Tom (Murley) Corr, a close friend of your Dad. (You might remember my family visiting your family when you were just a wee one!)
I’m am an amateur astronomer with around 10 telescopes (refractors and refectors). My wife and I ground and polished a 24-inch refractor and placed it on a Dobsonian mount that we made. It was the work under the direction of famous Mr John Dobson himself. The scope requires the use of a ladder to reach the lens, so it has proved to be impractical.
From the angle suggested in the sunset picture you were facing generally toward the southwest, relative to the sun; so, without looking up the sunset time and ignoring your unknown latitude, I am curious what bright star, or perhaps planet, is also about to set.
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Hi Mr Corr! Any friend of my Dad’s is a friend of mine, especially the star-gazing variety :)! Having none of our star-gazing apparatus or resources at our disposal on our trip it would be impossible to give you a definitive answer to your question. However, I can guess that it might have been Venus earlier on or Jupiter a bit later. Maybe even Saturn? We did have a good viewing of Mars at moon rise but were surprised how it had diminished in size and brilliance at that northerly latitude. We thoroughly enjoyed it’s closer proximity to earth a couple months back. Thank you for your engaging comment! I would love to dialogue further, so please do visit our site again!
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