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Duncan Murrell - A Whale of a Time

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Duncan Murrell - A Whale of a Time

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  • Port Houghton is a deep inlet on the mainland just to the north of Petersburg. It was one of my favourite peaceful retreats to find solitude in Southeast Alaska, and to enjoy and photograph the beautiful vegetation. It was my favourite place for vegetation because it has such an array of consummate displays of all the lowland, coastal vegetation habitats: flower meadows bursting with blooms and colours: muskeg resplendent with colour and minute detail, especially in the fall, dotted with inky ponds, and lichen and moss festooned dwarf trees: before the surrounding primary old growth temperate rain forest extends up the flanks of the surrounding mountains. Foraging bears frequent the meadows in the summer or dine on salmon in the rivers in the fall. At the head of the inlet there is a salt chuck  with a rock where harbour seals haul out.
    Alaska-vegetation1.jpg
  • Port Houghton is a deep inlet on the mainland just to the north of Petersburg. It was one of my favourite peaceful retreats to find solitude in Southeast Alaska, and to enjoy and photograph the beautiful vegetation. It was my favourite place for vegetation because it has such an array of consummate displays of all the lowland, coastal vegetation habitats: flower meadows bursting with blooms and colours: muskeg resplendent with colour and minute detail, especially in the fall, dotted with inky ponds, and lichen and moss festooned dwarf trees: before the surrounding primary old growth temperate rain forest extends up the flanks of the surrounding mountains. Foraging bears frequent the meadows in the summer or dine on salmon in the rivers in the fall. At the head of the inlet there is a salt chuck  with a rock where harbour seals haul out.
    Alaska-vegetation2.jpg
  • Many parts of Port Houghton were like a magical fairyland, where only the smallest and lightest of footprints would be permissible to preserve the delicate beauty. It is quite clear from the vegetation that it a particularly wet place that receives maximum amounts of localised rainfall. The trees were the mossiest that I saw anywhere in Southeast Alaska.<br />
Wet meadow with common cottongrass (Eriophorum angustifolium), western hemlock trees (Tsuga heterophylla) festooned with moss and usnea (Usnea longissima), and false azalea (Menziesia ferruginea) and western skunk cabbage (Lysichiton americanus).
    Alaska-vegetation19-2.jpg
  • I particularly used to enjoy photographing the lush vegetation at Port Houghton during the extended twilight in the summer. Using a tripod I took very long exposures of more than a minute, and the results were very atmospheric. As the light slowly faded the lighter features of the scene like the pastel green shade of the leaves of the rusty menziesia, and the usnea or old man's beard dripping from the trees, appeared to become luminous and suspended in the encroaching darkness, giving a ghostly life to the stunted trees.
    Alaska-vegetation12.jpg
  • Many parts of Port Houghton were like a magical fairyland, where only the smallest and lightest of footprints would be permissible to preserve the delicate beauty. It is quite clear from the vegetation that it a particularly wet place that receives maximum amounts of localised rainfall. The trees were the mossiest that I saw anywhere in Southeast Alaska. This was my most successful plant entry into the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition, reaching the final stage of judging.
    Alaska-vegetation9.jpg
  • There are extensive grass meadows at the head of the inlet beyond the mud flats, and then again at the head of the salt chuck. Dotted around the expanse of green grass there are concentrated oases  of plants in bloom like this. One large patch past the salt chuck bristled with a profusion of white bog orchids: more than I have seen anywhere else before.
    Alaska-vegetation3.jpg
  • Alaska-vegetation15.jpg
  • I always called this my party picture because the coloured grass reminds me of party poppers or fireworks.
    Alaska-vegetation14.jpg
  • The sphagnum moss is so thick in places in the muskeg, and often beautiful shades of red and pink. Walking on it is like walking on snow because you leave such deep footprints as it springs beneath your feet. I didn't like to leave too many ugly footprints in such a pristine miniaturised environment of dwarf plants. The muskeg always invites closer inspection to discover the variety of berry-producing plants at ground level.
    Alaska-vegetation18.jpg
  • Alaska-Tongass-National-Forest3.jpg
  • There are extensive grass meadows at the head of the inlet beyond the mud flats, and then again at the head of the salt chuck. Dotted around the expanse of green grass there are concentrated oases  of plants in bloom like this. One large patch past the salt chuck bristled with a profusion of white bog orchids: more than I have seen anywhere else before.
    Alaska-vegetation8.jpg
  • There are extensive grass meadows at the head of the inlet beyond the mud flats, and then again at the head of the salt chuck. Dotted around the expanse of green grass there are concentrated oases  of plants in bloom like this. One large patch past the salt chuck bristled with a profusion of white bog orchids: more than I have seen anywhere else before.
    Alaska-vegetation32.jpg
  • Southeast-Alaska-winter12.jpg
  • Indian paintbrush is a common plant in coastal areas of Southeast Alaska, and it illuminates a frequently overcast monochrome landscape with its flaming red bracts that surround the flowers. There are many different species that are difficult to identify, and colour variations from red to orange to yellow in Alaska. They are hemiparasitic on grass roots. The plant evokes the Native American legend of a young brave who tried to paint the sunset with his warpaints. Frustrated that he could not match the brilliance of nature, he asked for guidance from the Great Spirit. The Great Spirit gave him paintbrushes laden with the colors he so desired. With these, he painted his masterpiece and left the spent brushes in fields across the landscape.
    Alaska-vegetation12.jpg
  • There are extensive grass meadows at the head of the inlet beyond the mud flats, and then again at the head of the salt chuck. Dotted around the expanse of green grass there are concentrated oases  of plants in bloom like this. One large patch past the salt chuck bristled with a profusion of white bog orchids: more than I have seen anywhere else before.
    Alaska-vegetation10-2.jpg
  • There are extensive grass meadows at the head of the inlet beyond the mud flats, and then again at the head of the salt chuck. Dotted around the expanse of green grass there are concentrated oases  of plants in bloom like this. One large patch past the salt chuck bristled with a profusion of white bog orchids: more than I have seen anywhere else before.
    Alaska-vegetation11-2.jpg
  • The sphagnum moss is so thick in places in the muskeg, and often beautiful shades of red and pink. Walking on it is like walking on snow because you leave such deep footprints as it springs beneath your feet. I didn't like to leave too many ugly footprints in such a pristine miniaturised environment of dwarf plants. The muskeg always invites closer inspection to discover the variety of berry-producing plants at ground level.
    Alaska-vegetation19.jpg
  • Muskeg is an acidic soil type common in Arctic and boreal areas, although it is found in other northern climates as well. Muskeg is approximately synonymous with bogland, but "muskeg" is the standard term in Western Canada and Alaska, while 'bog' is common elsewhere. The term became common in these areas because it is of Cree origin; maskek meaning low-lying marsh.<br />
Muskeg consists of dead plants in various states of decomposition (as peat), ranging from fairly intact sphagnum moss, to sedge peat, to highly decomposed humus. Pieces of wood can make up five to 15 percent of the peat soil. Muskeg tends to have a water table near the surface. The sphagnum moss forming it can hold 15 to 30 times its own weight in water, allowing the spongy wet muskeg to form on sloping ground.Muskeg forms because permafrost, clay or bedrock prevents water drainage. The water from rain and snow collects, forming permanently waterlogged vegetation and stagnant pools. Muskeg is wet, acidic, and relatively infertile, which prevents large trees from growing, although stunted lodgepole pine, cottonwood, some species of willow, and Black Spruce are typically found in these habitats. It needs two conditions to develop: abundant rain and cool summers. A dead plant that falls on dry soil is normally attacked by bacteria and fungi and quickly rots. If the same plant lands in water or on saturated soil, it decomposes differently. Less oxygen is available under water, so aerobic bacteria and fungi fail to colonize the submerged debris effectively. In addition, cool temperatures retard bacterial and fungal growth. This causes slow decomposition, and thus the plant debris gradually accumulates to form peat and eventually muskeg. Depending on the underlying topography of the land, muskeg can reach depths greater than 30 metres (100 ft).
    Alaska-vegetation17.jpg
  • Although the temperate rain forest of Southeast Alaska is evergreen there is never any shortage of beautiful autumnal colours in the understory vegetation such as the blueberry bushes and the sphagnum moss and miniature plants of the muskeg.
    Alaska-vegetation13.jpg
  • During the autumn the cotton tufts of cottongrass are dispersed by the wind and cover the surrounding vegetation like a shaggy dog shedding its fur on furniture.<br />
<br />
Wet meadow with common cottongrass (Eriophorum angustifolium) blowing in the wind in autumn, Port Houghton, Southeast Alaska, USA.
    Alaska-vegetation19.jpg
  • Temperate rain forest bordering river flowing into Port Houghton, the mainland, Southeast Alaska, USA.<br />
<br />
The temperate rain forest of Southeast Alaska seems like such a dark impenetrable place, even along the banks of a river, like here at Port Houghton. The vegetation is often thick and impenetrable with spiky devil’s club, blueberry and salmon berry bushes, and the floor is littered with dead and decaying timber that further impedes progress through the forest. Usually the only way to get around the forest is by the animal trails that have been kept open by wild animals for thousands of years.
    vegetation-10.tif
  • Flower meadow, Port Houghton inlet on the mainland, Southeast Alaska, USA.<br />
<br />
There were extensive grassy meadows in Port Houghton and amongst the lush greenery there were oases of colour like this, brimming with different colour variations of Indian paint brush, northern white orchid, silverweed, Indian rice and northern lupins. It was a resplendent sight that always lifted the generally pervasive gloom of Southeast Alaska.
    vegetation-2.tif
  • Wet meadow with Alaska cotton grass and dwarf trees, Port Houghton, Southeast Alaska, USA.<br />
<br />
I loved the wet meadows and “muskeg”, sphagnum bogs, at Port Houghton. I was almost afraid to walk across them because they seemed so fragile underfoot. This was a magical place to me where only the soft, gentle, footsteps of fairies could be permissible.
    vegetation-11.tif
  • Flower meadow, Port Houghton inlet on the mainland, Southeast Alaska, USA.<br />
<br />
There were extensive grassy meadows in Port Houghton and amongst the lush greenery there were oases of colour like this, brimming with different colour variations of Indian paint brush, northern white orchid, silverweed, Indian rice and northern lupins. It was a resplendent sight that always lifted the generally pervasive gloom of Southeast Alaska.
    vegetation-3.tif
  • Skunk cabbage, Port Houghton, Southeast Alaska, USA.<br />
<br />
The skunk cabbage is probably the definitive understory plant of the Southeast Alaskan rain forest along with devil’s club. Its musky smell permeates the darkest, wettest corners of the forest and its giant shiny leaves seem to belong to prehistoric times.
    vegetation-9.tif
  • “Muskeg” pond, pond in sphagnum bog, Port Houghton, Southeast Alaska.<br />
<br />
The “muskeg” or sphagnum bogs were interspersed with black ponds with many water plants. The surrounding sphagnum bogs were are a Lilliputian world of miniaturized plants, like the vivid red of the nagoon berry visible in this photo, that only bears one berry; but it as big, sweet and succulent as a perfect raspberry and was always one of my favourite berries to search for.
    vegetation-8.tif
  • Wet meadow with rusty menzesia and moss and lichen festooned dwarf trees, Port Houghton, Southeast Alaska, USA.<br />
<br />
I loved taking photos during the extended periods of Alaskan twilight when the colours deepened, and the lighter, pastel shades of green of the moss, lichens and the rusty menzesia shrub visible in this photo, seemed to be left hanging in the encroaching darkness like ethereal wraiths. The stunted trees appeared to be animated by their clothing of lichens and moss dripping from their trunks and branches. They were magical places that seemed to come alive as the light faded.
    vegetation-12.tif
  • Sphagnum moss changing colour in autumn with dwarf blueberry, Port Houghton, Southeast Alaska, USA.<br />
<br />
The lush, thick, spongy sphagnum bogs became a colourful delight of edible colour during the autumn; I never expected to see moss change to such vivid shades of red and pink, like a soft, spongy dessert beneath my feet.
    vegetation-5.tif
  • Alaska cotton grass blowing in the wind, Port Houghton, Southeast Alaska, USA.<br />
<br />
During the autumn, the cotton grass would start to shed its wispy hairs, and they would scatter and disperse in the wind, and coat the surrounding vegetation with a temporary coat like an animal moulting.
    vegetation-7.tif
  • Colourful grass and false lily-of-the-valley in wet meadow bordering the forest, Port Houghton, Southeast Alaska, USA.<br />
I was particularly fascinated by all of the different species of wild grasses in Southeast Alaska because in my own country, England, so many of the native wild grasses have been displaced by the all-consuming modern agricultural practices.<br />
This was one of my favourite species because the pink colour change in autumn perfectly complimented the colour transformation of the surrounding sphagnum bogs. I always called this “the Party Photo”, because the colourful grass seems to be erupting from the ground like party poppers.
    vegetation-6.tif
  • Sphagnum moss changing colour in autumn with dwarf blueberry, Port Houghton, Southeast Alaska, USA.<br />
<br />
The lush, thick, spongy sphagnum bogs became a colourful delight of edible colour during the autumn; I never expected to see moss change to such vivid shades of red and pink, like a soft, spongy dessert beneath my feet. The miniature forest beneath my feet was also resplendent with the vivid colours of other plants, like the burning red stems of this bog blueberry plant.
    vegetation-4.tif
  • Southeast-Alaska-winter11.jpg
  • Flower meadow bordering a river, Port Houghton inlet on the mainland, Southeast Alaska, USA.<br />
<br />
As a keen gardener and amateur botanist Port Houghton was my Shangri-la. It is a very deep inlet and it ends with a salt chuck surrounded by high mountains. On one side there is a river that goes directly into the tidal inlet, as can be seen in this photo. Between the river and the salt chuck there are beautiful, colourful, flower meadows and closer to the forest there are extensive patches of richly vegetated “muskeg”, sphagnum bogs, dotted with dwarf trees heavily festooned with moss and lichens. It was like a botanical garden that had beautiful features of all facets of the rich vegetation of Southeast Alaska. Because the rainfall there was so high and the conditions usually overcast, the colours always seemed to be particularly saturated and resplendent so that the red of the Indian paint brushes literally seemed like wet paint that had just been applied to them.
    AlaskaRescan-8.jpg
  • Cape Fanshawe was always one of my first anchorages after leaving Petersburg, either in one of my boats, Avalon and subsequently Selena, or in my kayak. It’s on the mainland and at the entrance to my favourite place for vegetation in Southeast Alaska, Port Houghton. Although there are some safe anchorages in amongst the small islands there, and there used to be a fur farm situated there, the actual cape is very exposed to the full power of the elements as can be seen by the way these rocks on the shore have been sculpted; they have been sculpted like waves and are extremely slippery to walk on.<br />
I always remember being trapped there in my kayak late in the summer because the sea conditions were so rough. I was trying to get back to Petersburg at the end of a trip, and when the weather eventually cleared for a while, I had to make a dash for town and paddled continuously for 14 hours to make it back there. I had nearly been out of food, and to add to my torment my tent was being constantly bombarded with cones by a very petulant and territorial squirrel: it developed into squirrel wars!
    Southeast-Alaska-coast12.jpg
  • Wave-cut platform at Cape Fanshawe, on the mainland, Southeast Alaska, USA.<br />
<br />
Cape Fanshawe was always one of my first anchorages after leaving Petersburg, either in one of my boats, Avalon and subsequently Selena, or in my kayak. It’s on the mainland and at the entrance to my favourite place for vegetation in Southeast Alaska, Port Houghton. Although there are some safe anchorages in amongst the small islands there, and there used to be a fur farm situated there, the actual cape is very exposed to the full power of the elements as can be seen by the way these rocks on the shore have been sculpted; they have been sculpted like waves and are extremely slippery to walk on.<br />
I always remember being trapped there in my kayak late in the summer because the sea conditions were so rough. I was trying to get back to Petersburg at the end of a trip, and when the weather eventually cleared for a while, I had to make a dash for town and paddled continuously for 18 hours to make it back there. I had nearly been out of food, and to add to my torment my tent was being constantly bombarded with cones by a very petulant and territorial squirrel; it developed into squirrel wars!
    coast-3.tif