Adak Island, Alaska(text and image heavy)

[NorthernFocus]

Well I've been on the road again. In the past week I logged about 4000 air miles (6700km) without even leaving Alaska. That was accomplished by traveling to Ketchikan, the southernmost town in the state, and then to Adak which is waaaaay out in the Aleutian islands. As a matter of fact at longitude 176W it almost across the international date line. I went out there with a group hunting caribou though my main interest was the large population of bald eagles. And the history.

It is a little known fact but during WW2 the Japanese attacked Alaska on the same day as the attack on Midway Island. The attack was intended to distract the US and tie up resources that would otherwise be sent to fight elsewhere in the Pacific. They achieved there goal. To respond to the attack, the US diverted troop ships that were headed west and sent them to Adak. 4500 soldiers that were clothed and equipped for fighting in the tropics landed on Adak in one of the most inhospitable sub-arctic environments on Earth. Over the ensuing months the US ended up sending 95,000 military personnel, over 100 ships, and hundreds of airplanes to fight the Aleutian campaign. Obviously it didn't ultimately affect the outcome of the war. There was very little publicity about the campaign due to the government avoiding the subject of Japanese soldiers being entrenched on US soil in North America. You can read a little more in this quick history of Adak.

Unfortunately the supply ships that brought all of the materials of war to Adak also delivered Norway rats. It turns out the grass covered island, devoid of predators, was an ideal habitat for the rodents and is now overrun with HUGE rats. But there is an upside. Bald eagles filled the predator void in the food chain. Now there are literally hundreds of them on Adak, feasting on the rats.

I spent a total of four days there. One more than planned due to an arctic storm that caused our flight home to cancel. There are only two flights a week but luckily they rescheduled for the following evening. For an entire day the storm generated sustained winds of over 80mph(135kph) with gusts over 120mph(200kph) along with rain, sleet, and snow. What fun....

Anyhow, I didn't get much in the way of eagle photos but did come away with some other stuff.

During the lull before the storm I captured some mountain shots.

1) Mt.Moffet, highest point on the island. Nikon D4, 200-500mm @200mm, three frames stitched in LR.


2) Looking east just before sunset. The first two peaks are on Adak Island and the two farther ones are on Kagalaska Island. Sony a6000, 18-55mm kit lens, two frames stitched in LR.


3) And the other direction...


4) I tagged along with the hunters after the storm and got this shot of Betty Lake. Also shot with the Sony.


A couple of shots of the abandoned military base shot with the Sony and converted to B/W.

5) The old chapel.


6) Barracks row.


And finally some eagles. My first outing with the new Nikon 200-500mm lens with D4 attached.

Hunting rats...

7)


8)


And eating caribou carrion...

9)


10)

[Rebel]

Beautiful images Dan, I love the pinkish light in the first two!

And thanks for the history lesson, very interesting

[Donald]

Wonderful - both pictures and text (every day is a learning day).

The panoramic landscapes are beautiful. Pretty hard to get those right. Challenging light and all that snow.

[Sam W]

Nice shots Dan as always. I also enjoyed the text. I can't image winds 80-120, wow. When I first saw #9, I thought in addition to the strong winds they have really big rats...then read your caption that is was a caribou.

[Ziggy]

Thank you for sharing, enjoyed.

[Shadowman]

Nice series.

[bnnrcn]

Very nice set, thanks for sharing

[NorthernFocus]

Glad you guys enjoyed the post. Thanks for commenting.

Beautiful images Dan, I love the pinkish light in the first two!...

We get a lot of pink and purple in the sky up here. There are a lot less particulates in the air, particularly sulfur which causes red/orange light.

[Mike Buckley]

Impeccable, gorgeous photos. Informative, enjoyable narrative. All as usual!

[Rita]

Spectacular series.

[Wavelength]

Simply magical.... just stunning shots....my admirations

[AlwaysOnAuto]

Stunning vistas you have up there Dan.
Thanks for sharing them and the history lesson too.
We've been experiencing some rather cool weather lately here in Southern California, but it is nothing compared to that.

[NorthernFocus]

Thanks for commenting, folks.

[IzzieK]

So cool...Excellent shots, especially the eagle ones...

[Brownbear]

I'm also in love with the mountain scenes/pink light! The b&w are interesting to see, and wonderful scenes. The Eagle images, excellent as always. Personality shines through in 9 & 10, with 10 being my favourite. (resembling a cranky old man)

Thank you as always for sharing.

[NorthernFocus]

Thanks for the comments, ladies, and I'm glad you enjoyed the post. There were a lot of eagles on Adak but the weather didn't allow me to do much with them. Definitely a different environment to shoot them in. There were several birds nearby the one on the carcass but he wouldn't let anyone else have any. He wasn't scared of me either as you can see by his expression

[AlwaysOnAuto]

Any idea of what may have killed the caribou Dan?

[ST1]

Great series and narrative Dan, thanks for sharing this

[tbob]

Interesting spot. And well done shots Not the sort of place you could pop over for the day, but I suspect the photographic opportunities are boundless with the changing seasons. Landscapes, wildlife and abandoned buildings Fascinating.

From the look of the place, I would have let the Japanese sit there and suffer. Maybe just harass them a bit to increase the misery.

[NorthernFocus]

Any idea of what may have killed the caribou Dan?

Yes, lead poisoning

...From the look of the place, I would have let the Japanese sit there and suffer. Maybe just harass them a bit to increase the misery.

Everyone suffered equally. In fact the US troops likely suffered worse. They were equipped with tropical gear. Plus the Japanese army was more accustomed to hardship. But who knows what those in power at the time had in mind...