Nicole’s Adventures in Alaska

Day 1 This was my first day in Alaska. I went to the Raptor Center and saw eagles, ravens, owls, and many more birds. We saw one eagle up close. Her name was Sitka. She was named after the city. She ate in front of us and seemed really gentle to her handler Lucy.

This is Sitka the eagle up close.

Day 2 This is Cinnamon the bear. I thought it was a grizzly bear, but I learned that it was a brown bear, and they aren’t the same. This took place on Baranof Island, one of the ABC Islands.

Day 2 These are humpback whales. They were bubblenet feeding, that is when whales blow bubbles under the water and attract fish towards the bubbles so the whales can feed on them.

Day 3 On this day I saw a beautiful glacier. It was John Hopkins glacier. On the other side you see an iceberg. An iceberg has to be 15 feet or more to be an iceberg. If it is not 15 feet, it’s a growder. A growder is a small piece of ice. They call it a growder because when a ship passes over it it goes grwwwwwdddd.

Day 4 This is a sea otter. We saw him on our DIB[inflatables] ride. He was doing tricks for us such as somersaults and flips. He rarely laid down so this was a rare sight for my group. This was personally one of my favorite days.

Day 5 These are bear bones my group found on Chichagof Island. I picked up the long one you see in the middle, it felt weird and disgusting to pick up a bone from a dead animal but it was also cool knowing that this might have been a small bear or a big bear. It might have been the biggest bear in the woods. It was still awesome knowing I picked up a bear bone.

Day 5 On the left you see me in our room. It was the biggest bedroom on the ship. Anyway I went on a bush whacking hike with one of our guides, Bette Lu. It was so fun, but I ran into a lot of devils club [which I will talk about next]. You’re probably wondering why i’m making such an awkward face. Well it is our families signature face, we call it the Busby face. I do admit, it is the most weird and creepy face I can make, but don’t be scared it means I like you, and it is funny to look at too.

Day 5 This is Devils club[which I mentioned earlier]. It has thorns on the bottom of it. This one was practically over 1 foot long, it was the biggest one I could find so I took a picture. I saw a patch of devils club I could just tell that it had over 100 thorns on the stem of it. They were the sharpest things i’ve ever seen in my life time. They were sort of scary to run into. Personally I hated them.

Day 6 This is me in Petersburg. On this day I went on a walk on the dock with another guide named Carlos. He said the water in Petersburg never freezes, I found that very interesting. I saw a speed bump and my grandma pointed out the speed bump sign, and said ‘’That sign says fartsdemper’’. This was a very fun day.

My Conclusion I know what your thinking, a conclusion page from day 5 well this was my ship the Sea Bird and it looked like a good conclusion page. This was a journey of a lifetime. Did you know people say if you come to Alaska as a child you be spoiled for life. Anyway back to what I was saying, this is a journey I will never foreget. I will remember the people I met there, the wonderful caring they provided to me. I will always have the Alaska air against my face. The memories I will take with me everywhere I go. I will take my children there most certainly. Sincerely, Nicole Josephine Busby.