Lots of good places to record, Debbi, only if you can get far away
from the cruise tours and have enough time alone to do that. I've led
12 bioacoustic trips to those areas and found them accessible and
typically full of vocal wildlife. In recent years, however, there is
an increasing amount of noise from both watercraft and light aircraft
that obviates extended quiet times. But the days are long and you'll
still have lots of opportunities to capture good natural soundscapes.
Hubbard Glacier to the east of Yakutat, is receding quickly. But if
you camp on the SW shore of the Russell Fjord across from the calving
face (a distance of about .5 mile when I was last there), and if you
have the type of mic technology to capture very low frequency (around
20 - 30 Hz), you'll get some dramatic explosive sounds from the 300
ft wall of ice breaking away and crashing into the water below. Just
be sure that your camping equipment is pulled far enough away from
the waterline or you'll be swamped by some of the waves. There are
wolves and bear there, so be prudent with your food stuff.
Juneau's noisy but it's a fun town with an interesting museum (more
for what it doesn't say than what it does) and around the time you'll
be there, a terrific Native American festival really worth attending.
Sitka is a small but really neat town with lots of nature writers
(like Richard Nelson [The Island Within]) and one of the best museums
of Native American collections (albeit tiny) that I've ever seen. The
Sheldon Jackson Museum, an extension of the college, there, is a must
and worth a lot of time. The environs around Sitka are pretty noisy
so you have to get way up the coast of Chichagoff Island in the
inland bays to find places to record.
I'm less familiar with Ketchikan because it is really busy with lots
of boat and aircraft traffic virtually around the clock at that time
of year. There may be places to record around there, but I don't know
of them.
Bernie Krause
>I will be taking a family cruise to AK in June (my dad's idea). These
>are the stops in AK. Would it be worth bringing recording equipment,
>and if so, where would be good spots given the timing? I will have a
>balcony room, but having not been on a ship before I don't know what
>I'd be able to hear besides water.
>
>
>Departure Port / Date / Arrival Time / Departure Time
>
>Hubbard Glacier 06-13-2006 02:30 PM 05:00 PM
>Juneau 06-14-2006 07:00 AM 08:00 PM
>Sitka 06-15-2006 08:00 AM 04:00 PM
>Ketchikan 06-16-2006 07:00 AM 01:00 PM
>
>
>Debbi
>
>
>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>"Microphones are not ears,
>Loudspeakers are not birds,
>A listening room is not nature."
>Klas Strandberg
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
--
Wild Sanctuary
P. O. Box 536
Glen Ellen, CA 95442
t. 707-996-6677
f. 707-996-0280
http://www.wildsanctuary.com
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