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Adventure, In Alaska, Nature, Photography, Science, Wildllife

The Hooligans of Haines

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The Great Hooligan Run

Alaska is known for its runs of salmon, but each year in the spring an equally impressive and ecologically important run of fish ascend the streams of Southeast Alaska and as far north as Norton Sound. The small, silvery fish, provide bountiful food for birds, bears, and people and signify that spring is here. I had the opportunity to observe the abundance of life that greet the Hooligan in the Chilkoot River, just north of Haines, Alaska.

Thousands of gulls, dozens of eagles, and tens of Stellars Sealions gather at the mouth of the Chilkoot River to feed on Hooligan.

The Chilkoot River system where I stood watching schools of Hooligan is surrounded in spectacular scenery. The 70 yard-wide river valley is dotted with large boulders which were deposited there by retreating glaciers.  High mountains that rise along each shore are covered with snow and feed the cold-water system for several months, until mid-summer.  During April and May, its shallow, clear waters, house thousands of shimmering gray shapes. Hooligan (Thaleichthys pacificus, also known as “eulachon” or “candle fish”) return by the hundreds of thousands to deposit their eggs.

The Ecology of Hooligan

Hooligan are anadromous fish, meaning they spend most of their adult life in the ocean, but return to freshwater to breed. The most well-known example of anadromous fish are salmon species, however Hooligan do not necessarily return to the same river like salmon do.  The timing of their spawning run is determined by water temperature and hence shifts later into the year as you move from Southeast Alaska up to the western coast. After breeding, a majority of Hooligan die, but there are some fish that return to the river. Why only some die after spawning is just one of the many things that are not known about this fish. For instance biologists are also unsure what effects the size of the run which has varied highly in recent years. In the Chilkoot River, the run was estimated at 300,000 in 2015 but >1.8 million in 2016. That is quite a difference! After talking to the locals, it sounds like this year’s run in the Chilkoot was strong and echoed the strong run of 2016.

Hooligan Run, Alaska, Haines, Chilkoot
Thousands of Hooligan swim in the shallow waters of the Chilkoot River.
Dead Hooligan lie on the beaches of the Chilkoot River.
The silvery bodies of Hooligan provide a contrast to the gravel of the Chilkoot River.
Most of the Hooligan that I saw in the Chilkoot river were between 8 – 10 inches long.
These dead Hooligan will break down an provide nutrients to the river and coastal region.

The Effect of Hooligan

You do not really have to see the effect of Hooligan to understand their importance to the ecosystem – closing your eyes and listening will probably tell you the story that needs to be told. Envision the sound of the lapping surf at your feet and the hum of the wind past your ears. Now layer in the raucous sound of thousands of gulls from multiple species raising from the beaches in an excited chorus. Add the grunting, bold, bellow of an adult, bull, sealion. The chir and ki-ki-ki of many bald eagles. The whistle of a goldeneye’s wingbeats. This is the audio picture of the Hooligan run and I was astounded by its magnitude.

Hooligan, Chilkoot, Haines, Alaska
A rainbow high-lights the amazing scenery around Haines. Gulls, Eagles and Stellars Sealions feed on Hooligan at the mouth of the Chilkoot River.

It was obvious from watching the behavior of various animals that they had mastered the art of catching an easy meal and nutritious meal. Hooligan are an important food source because of their high energy value. Dried Hooligan are so oily they were traditionally burned by Tlingits as candles. One of the most impressive behaviors was how Stellar’s Sealions herded the fish against the shore. Working together the sealions breached from the water in a wall to spook the fish upstream. The breaches ocurred in synchronized sequences, with the whole body of the sealion coming out of the waters, followed shortly by another individual. If the maneuver was successful a large school of finned-dinners would be pinned against the shore and a feeding frenzy ensued. Swirling waters and flippers were all that was visible of the fast-moving sealions as they snatched up fish below the water’s surface. The gulls were equally effective at catching Hooligan and dove repeatedly into the water, coming up with a fish frequently. After successful dives, the fish protruded from the gull’s mouth and were consumed on the wing . It’s amazing to think they could swallow them at all! The bodies of the fish were not the only thing being consumed. Countless eggs (they lay up to 30,000 per female!) were strewn across the beach, stranded as the tide went out. I watched a tiny, Least Sandpiper scoop up mouth-fulls of the eggs, providing a high-calorie caviar snack.

Hooligan, Chilkoot River, Haines, Alaska
A Bonaparte’s gull consume a Hooligan on the wing moments after snatching it from the river.
A Juvenille Bald eagle scouts for Hooligan below.
Thousands of gulls congregate at the Chilkoot River.
A massive lift-off of gulls from the beachs cloud out the mountain scenery near Haines.
A Bald Eagle scavenges in the tide line.
A rainbow high-lights the amazing scenery around Haines.
A rainbow high-lights the amazing scenery around Haines.
A rainbow high-lights the amazing scenery around Haines.
A breaching sealion works to herd Hooligan against the shoreline.
A Least Sandpiper feeds on Hooligan eggs in the tideline
A Least Sandpiper feeds on Hooligan eggs in the tideline
A pack of sealions roam the waters to herd Hooligan.
A bellowing sealion lets the world know he’s boss.
A Least Sandpiper amount the mountain scenery of the Chilkoot River.
A Least Sandpiper ruffles its feathers.
A sealion breaches to herd Hooligan against the shore.
A successful Mew Gull swallows its meal of Hooligan.

I wish that my time at the Chilkoot River could have been longer. Two evenings observing it just did not seem like enough! What any one-person takes away from an experience can vary vastly. My viewpoint is one a naturalist and scientist looking to sponge knowledge and learn from what I observe. I hope that you, the reader, can see it some day to see what you learn. Alaska is known for its larger-than-life wildlife spectacles, and in my opinion the Hooligan run and the abundance of life it creates is an experience that should be seen, felt, and heard by anyone that appreciates the wild places of earth.

Sources (also used in hyperlinks through the article):

  • http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=eulachon.main
  • http://traditionalanimalfoods.org/fish/searun-fish/page.aspx?id=6448
  • http://www.subsistence.adfg.state.ak.us/techpap/tp213.pdf
  • https://www.afsc.noaa.gov/Publications/ProcRpt/PR%202006-12.pdf
  • http://www.alaskapublic.org/2016/04/28/hooligan-make-strong-return-to-chilkoot-and-chilkat/
Adventure, Aurora Borealis, feature

Top Shots 2016

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Another year come and gone! This year has been nothing short of life-changing. I graduated with my masters in Wildlife from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, moved from the Interior to the incredible Southeast Alaska, married the love of my life, and have a job I love! Life is great, and life has left me less time to blog recently (lack of time compounded by no internet at my house). However, that doesn’t mean that my camera has been sitting picking up dust in the corner. On the contrary I’ve been out photographing the wild beauty of Hoonah and Alaska all year. Some of these images from 2016 have made their way onto Facebook. You can “like ” my page for daily photo updates at www.facebook.com/ianlww. For other images this is the first time they’ve been shown off! Previous year-end recaps have been in different formats such as dividing by month in 2014 and dividing by topic in 2015. This year I’m just going to scrap the text and the give you the top shots 2016 from around Alaska. I hope you enjoy!

Broad-leaf Gentians at 3,000 feet above Hoonah
Sunset at Icy Strait Point
A mature Bald Eagle takes a break from cleaning up a seal carcass at Icy Strait Point
American Pine Marten on Chichagof Island near Hoonah, Alaska.
Milky Way at Twelvemile Summit, Steese Highway, Alaska
An American Dipper perches with a mouthfull of food that it just scavenged from the river’s bottom.
Master Carver Wayne Price wears the newly woven canoe shawl.
An incredible display of Aurora reflects of the ocean and highlights the islands outside of Sitka, Alaska.
Macro shot of a beautifu
A mature humpback whale breaches in Hoonah, Alaska.
The aurora borealis flares up over Castner Glacier, Delta Junction, Alaska
Each of the paddlers pulling their weight during the maiden voyage.
The city of Haines sits below jutting mountains.
The Milky Way and Aurora stretch over Port Frederick in Hoonah, Alaska
Adventure, Landscape Photography

O’er Hill and Dale to Haines

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Dearest Reader,

What I am about to recount is greater in grandeur than I ever suspected when I packed up everything I owned into one vehicle and left Fairbanks, Alaska to move to Hoonah. I found the road from Fairbanks to Haines was filled with wildlife, mountains, signs of spring, joy-inducing beauty, and adventure if I sought it. Herein lies the account of my travels.

Of the Aurora Borealis, I cannot speak more highly of its beauty and grace. From my perch above Castner Glacier, just south of Delta Junction, Alaska, I watched the blues and gold of the sunset fade away. Clear skies danced with twinkling stars, and a brilliant full moon hung in the sky; it was nearly to bright to look at. From my ridge post, I looked far up the valley to the illuminated peaks of the Alaska Range. Directly in front of me, the looming face of the glacier was hidden in the shadow of the valley. Its ice was banded with layers of sediment and polished clean by the winds which occasionally blow violently down the valley. Fortunately, on this night there was not even a breath of wind. Eventually the aurora built to such proportions that it arched over the full glacier. It danced in pinks in green that must have released many positive endorphins inside of me, for I felt very calm and at peace.

Kluane Lake in the Yukon Territory is an enchanting valley of ice. The morning after I arrived, I stood on the ice in the pre-dawn to watch the sunrise. Surrounded by high mountains on each side, the sun takes a long time to break the plane of the mountains. Slowly the mountains to the west were lit in an ethereal orange light until the sun broke the ragged edges of the mountains to the east.  At that point the light turned white and the day had begun. At the southern extremes of Kluane Lake I found many big-horn sheep. Although none of them had the large, signature curls of a mature ram, it was fun to watch the kids and ewes feed along the mountainside. A wildlife bonus was watching the crossing of two coyotes across the center of the lake. They were dwarfed by the magnitude of the mountains.

Along Kluane National Park I surprised to see the first signs of spring in the Taiga. Willows were opening their fuzzy buds, and even small rivers were beginning to open and trickle through the snow.  I met the most enchanting little bird along the waters of a fast moving river. An American Dipper was feeding for fish from along a small ice flow. It dipped and bobbed its butt in the signature dance move of the small bird.

From the river bottoms of Kluane National Park I climbed into the enchanting winter-wonderland of Haines Pass, at about 3,500 feet. Up there, tyrannical winter was still in full control with only a few inklings that spring had a foothold. Much like the high arctic,most large trees were relegated to river bottoms out of the wind. Although prime habitat for the all-white Willow Ptarmigan, I saw only a few. Snow accumulation, to my best estimate, was around 6 or 7 feet in the pass. I was fortunate the road was cleared and the day so beautiful! The mountains landscape was truly more than I expected, and I say without pause that its beauty was intoxicating!

I descended to Haines, Alaska where it was evident that Spring was fortifying itself for a full on attack on Winter in the highlands. In Haines, the rivers flowed with vigor, and the mountains accented them by reflecting vigorously from the shimmering surface. I found that Haines in the night was  perhaps even more beautiful than in the daytime. Jutting mountains stuck up from behind the city and lit by a full moon it was truly a sight to behold. Seeing as this was the first time I have seen Haines, this will likely be how I always remember it!

Well, dearest Reader, I hope you have enjoyed the account of my trip from Fairbanks to Haines. I do hope you have the opportunity to partake in it someday and extend upon the numerous opportunities of which I have only scratched the surface. The images below may also help tell the story as they are set chronologically from my departure to my arrival.

Sincerely,

A New Southeasterner

The aurora borealis flares up over Castner Glacier, Delta Junction, Alaska
8 image panorama over Castner Glacier, Delta Junction, Alaska
The aurora borealis over the face of Castner Glacier.
The Northern Lights Build over Castner Glacier.
Watching the tail end of the display of Northern Lights, approximately 2AM
A full moon created long shadows on the hike out of the Glacier.
The sunrise at Kluane Lake bounces off the ice.
Sunrise at Kluane Lake.
The colors of the sun refract off the ice of Kluane Lake
The sun breaks over the plane of the mountains at Kluane Lake.
A Coyote makes its way across the ice on Kluane Lake
A Coyote is dwarfed by the mountains in the background of Kluane lake
Fuzzy “kids”, you bighorn sheep, along Kluane Lake.
The gold and white stems of an old yarrow plant south of Kluane Lake
A row of spruces are locked in the ice in front of the mountains.
A wide open river flows through Kluane National Park – a sign of spring!
An American Dipper on an ice flow.
Along the road in Haines Pass
A small river forges it way through the snow pack in Haines Pass
Goat Creek has managed to melt through the snow in Haines Pass.
Hills locked in winter in Haines Pass.
A willow Ptarmigan blends into the snow and the large scale of the landscape.
A Will Ptarmigan keeps an eye out for me.
An unknown peak rises up over the road system in Haines, Pass
The mountains of Haines Pass
The mountains of Haines Pass
The mountains of Haines Pass
The mountains of Haines Pass
The Mountains shimmer off an open river as you come into Haines, Alaska
Mountains behind the braids of a shallow portion of the river.
The mountains reflect off the inter-tidal area in Haines, Alaska.
The mountains reflect off the inter-tidal area in Haines, Alaska.
The mountains reflect off the inter-tidal area in Haines, Alaska.
A white clam shell likes just under the surface of the water in this tide pool.
The mountains reflect off the inter-tidal area in Haines, Alaska.
The mountains reflect off the inter-tidal area in Haines, Alaska.
Stars, mountains, clouds, and full moon over Haines, Alaska.
The city of Haines sits below jutting mountains.
The city of Haines and the mountains behind it reflect in an inter-tidal pool.