August 19th, 1995

Still raining. We've finished every possible preparation. We have had the opportunity to explore every inch of Petersberg (which didn't take very long). The town lies in the farthest South part of the Alaskan panhandle between Juneau and Ketchikan and is a small but busy fishing port founded on salmon canneries that billow clouds of steam 24 hours a day. Petersberg is the closest town to a protected fjord called Steven's passage, a major feeding ground for humpback whales and an excellent place to observe and film them.

The panhandle of Alaska is a flooded mountain range so we see our whales against a backdrop of 15,000 foot, snow capped mountains rising straight out of the sea. Even the brief nights are stunning. The sky is crowded with stars owing to a lack of skyshine from artificial lights and sometimes we get spectacular displays of colored Northern Lights.