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A rare sight in summer, last week a strong display of northern lights was visible on the night of the new moon. The team of scientists conducting whale research based out of Five Finger Lighthouse photographed the phenomena. That team, known as WhaleSpeak will depart the lighthouse this week and will be offering a community presentation at the Petersburg Public Library this saturday about their research on the loud aerial vocalizations of Southeast Alaska’s humpback whales....
In January The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously voted to award the construction contract for the Blind Slough Hydroelectric refurbishment project to McG/Dawson Joint Venture for an amount not to exceed $5,744,000. The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously approved an ordinance in its first reading that would rezone a lot located at 10 N. 12th Street for commercial use. The rezoning was requested by the Petersburg Indian Association ahead of their prospective purchase of the lot, which h...
After helping her friend Kerry Kirkpatrick set up a solo exhibition at Juneau Douglas City Museum last year, Suzanne Fuqua realized the time has arrived to introduce herself to her community as an artist. Clausen Memorial Museum will host Fuqua's first ever solo exhibition from Dec. 1 through Dec. 14. The art show titled "Before, After, and In Between" will showcase a collection of around 50 paintings in a range of styles and mediums produced by Fuqua over the past five years. There will be...
From atop the helicopter pad at Five Finger Lighthouse station, visitors experience a nearly unobstructed 360-degree vista of Alaska's Inside Passage. The air is rich with the scent of saltwater, the calls of the island's abundant birdlife, and echoes of humpback whales breathing and breaching in Stephens Passage throughout the summer feeding season. A narrow path leads between the station's 120-year-old boat house and carpenter shop and gently traverses the less-than-three-acre island's green... Full story
The air in town is crisp, leaves continue to fall and the mornings are turning frosty. Even with the bright sunshine seen in Petersburg this week, the season is certainly shifting. The transition of summer to winter brings more than a change in weather; seasonal industries shift, and the change prompts reflection. How did this summer go? Several of Petersburg's new tourism businesses look back on their 2023 season. VIKING TRAVEL James and Madeleine Valentine are the owners of Viking Travel, a...
The fog was thick and freezing. Ice crystallized on every spruce branch and ocean-sprayed rocky cleft. Akusha Island was wrapped up tight in an icy cloud. The Croman family must have huddled close for warmth in their rustic cabin, isolated forty miles north of Petersburg on the island they used as a fox farm. The foxes depended on them for food and water but otherwise the critters ran free since it was too far to swim to another shore. Eventually the family would round them up and harvest their soft silver-blue pelts. By the next morning the...
Unexpected meetings - After a week of grey rain the sun danced on the water today. It seemed the perfect day for a boat ride. The sea was glassy and still, disturbed by neither wind nor wave. Only ripples of light played across its mirror surface. So we got an early start on projects so as to finish by mid day's high tide. The tide must be high for us to use the crane to lower the boat down the cliff into water below. A guest at the Lighthouse had been reading "Trouble on Blue Fox Island", a...
The Sound Science Research Collective returned to Five Finger Lighthouse again in the summer of 2022. And earlier this month they shared some results from their 2019 field season in an online presentation for the Five Finger Lighthouse Society by Dr. Leanna Matthews, detailing their playback study with humpback whales. "Usually when people think about whale song, they think about humpback song, but song is not the only thing they do. Song is produced on the breeding grounds, on those lower...
Goodbyes are hard. I suppose that is evidenced by my need to write one more time after already signing off for the season. One thing COVID taught us all is that despite the best laid plans, life is uncertain. And the only constant is change. Yes we plan to be back next Spring. Last year we planned to see my brother-in-law again, but he was a healthy kayaker one day and three days later he was gone without goodbyes. That was COVID. So now although we plan to see the island again and check on all the good work we did this year to see how it...
The world around us is changing fast now, with each day shorter than the last. We arrived at Five Finger Lighthouse in Spring to fiery skies splashed with deep glowing reds and oranges. We moved into the long light-filled days of summer — so much light made us giddy and we forgot to sleep at all until we fell asleep standing. As the summer wanes, the dusk and dawn horizons have softened to gentle shades of rose and gold and the mountains glow pink again. The mists have arrived, sometimes wrapping us in an opaque veil. Other times the mist strea...
Part of our mission is to make the Five-Finger Lighthouse accessible to the public and to share its historical importance. It’s somewhat like living in a museum. Originally four men were stationed here, so we have four bedrooms in the living quarters. In three of them we have arranged a total of nine dormitory style bunk beds. The fourth room is kept as a private space for the keepers. This is essential because the rest of the Lighthouse, including the living quarters, must be presentable to guests at all times with only a moment’s notice. So...
“How can you describe this to someone?,” my friend asks incredulously, “It’s like trying to describe heaven to us on earth.” It’s early morning and the sky is grey and heavy, washing down into the equally grey but glossy sea, completely obliterating any horizon. The world above and below merges in moisture. The sea is so calm that only a gentle lapping sound is perceptible along the shore line. Otherwise, silence hangs. To my east five humpbacks exhale in quick succession. One rumbles a deep growl ending in a whistle. They ease back down i...
Today is a cool and blustery grey day at The Light. But I am reminded that big blubbery whales don’t mind the cold at all. One such whale is breathing in my ear almost constantly as I write. She is just off our shore between the rock we call “Eagle Island” and our west side. There is a narrow channel there through which the tides stream in and out and no doubt the fish are carried along with them. The seaweed also streams, first this way then that. For a whale, it must be like a feeding shoot and a back scratching post all wrapped into one....
Today a videographer asked me, "What is it you like about being out here?" Her big camera lens silently recording me as I mumbled something about liking the eagles and the whales, the constant impact of the ocean surging around me and, of course, the lighthouse. "What about the lighthouse?" She prodded. Good question. What is it about this lighthouse-Five Finger Light? I had never really thought about it very consciously, but the lens was still staring blankly at me so I pensively replied, "...
Conservation of resources— That is an eloquent way of saying “how do you save water and electricity and propane when supplies are limited?” At The Lighthouse we are re-supplied every two weeks by our super supportive Five Finger Lighthouse nonprofit board of directors. They, as a team, are very conscientious about making sure we have what we need. But sometimes Mother Nature has plans that challenge or altogether preclude that delivery. So when our freezer broke down, the team quickly got a new one and planned everything right to get it out to...
This week was an experiment at Five Finger Lighthouse. The experiment's hypothesis: "There is much for students to learn at the Lighthouse." Participants included whale researchers, lighthouse keepers, and a bright, brave and curious thirteen year old named Isabella. Bella (or Izzy) thought she might want to research whales. Now, after a week of life at the Five Finger Lighthouse, she knows she wants to research whales. Here are her comments on the visit: "Before coming to Alaska, a week felt...
"How do you do it?" People frequently ask me, shaking their heads incredulously. They said it when we cruised for almost ten years on a 46-foot sailboat, and they say it now whilst we keep The Light on a two-acre uninhabited island for five months. Truth be told it's not that different from the every day lives of most other people. I have a theory that we all live in two bubbles-a small personal sphere and a larger worldly sphere. When we are personally connected to those around us, we are aware...
Humans come and go at Five Finger Lighthouse. Early on in it's life since 1902 the "365" teams would stay, four men thrown together through the four seasons. Their names are painted on the rocks beneath the helipad and under the lighthouse itself. Notes in the old log books show they were young men, lonely men, boisterous men, some celebratory, some at peace in nature, not always at peace with each other ...often wanting to go home. Researchers come to Five Finger Lighthouse to study the whales....
A husband and wife have come back to spend their summer taking care of the Five Finger Lighthouse. John and Pat Jans maintain a "home base" or "nest" high in the mountains of Colorado, but Southeast also takes up special space in their hearts. "We've been here before, so it actually feels like a homecoming," Pat says. "It's really wonderful to be back home. It's very dear to us." When they were the lighthouse keepers in 2017, one of the first things John did upon arrival was figure out how much...
During Tuesday's meeting, the Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously, 7-0, in support of Ordinance #2022-03 in its first reading which would increase harbor moorage fees by approximately 5%. The proposed fee increase was first presented to the Harbor and Ports Advisory Board during a meeting on February 1 where Harbormaster Glo Wollen said the increase was necessary to keep up with inflation and that fees have not increased since 2018. During that meeting, the harbor board approved a...
January The assembly approved of a COVID-19 dashboard which tracked cases in the community. Local businesses received a total of $15.08 million in aid in the first round of COVID-19 aid released through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. PMC vaccinated approximately 350 residents aged 65 or older at a vaccine drive in the community gym. PMC was given permission by the borough to apply for a second PPP loan totaling $1.8 million. PMC applied and received a loan of...
Thank you for support To the Editor: The Five Finger Lighthouse Society would like to thank the supporters of our fundraising event during the months of September and October. We really appreciate the artists who contributed their creativity and time to their donated pieces and to those businesses that donated services for the auction. We also thank the bidders and winners of the auction items on the Bidding Owl website, our new members, and those who made additional monetary donations during this time. All of these contributions help keep the...
Though the call for adventure never ceases, even the crew of the Endeavour needs to take time to rest and take stock of the year's expeditions. Captain Bill Urschel, his wife Patsy, and their dog Bella live aboard the ship in North Harbor and are wintering in Petersburg for their second year in a row. The Endeavour, named for the ship Captain James Cook commanded on his first voyage of discovery, is a 72-foot U.S. Army T-Boat built in 1954 that has seen many names and many places over her...
The 45th annual Oktoberfest Art Share, sponsored by the Muskeg Maleriers, will be held Saturday in the community gym. The event will be similar to its previous iterations and will feature the creations of local artists including rosemaling, baked goods, Christmas decorations, and more. Sally Dwyer, one of the organizers of the event, said there is something for everybody. "We've got quilters, we've got painters, we've got booksellers, we've got artists, we've got cupcake makers, brownie makers....
Artwork from the Five Finger Lighthouse Society auction is on display this week at the Clausen Museum. The society reached out to artists, most of them locals, to contribute art to the show as part of the fundraiser. According to museum director and participating artist Cindi Lagoudakis, 46 pieces are on display at the museum while a few more are being reserved for the auction. The art can also be seen and bid on through their bidding owl website which museum-goers can open by scanning QR codes...
