The most well known type of art made by Alaska Natives is the totem pole. No Alaska vacation is complete without seeing a few. Carver Nathan Jackson (the most famous carver in the world) works at the Saxman Carving Shed in Saxman, two miles south of Ketchikan. You can see him work there most days during the summer.

Humpback Whales Video

Alaska Whales Bubble Feeding
Whales team up and circle under schools of herring, then lunge into the ball that forms.

There are eight species of whales that frequent the cold and icy waters of Alaska. The Beluga, Humpback, Grey, Orca, Bowhead, Blue, Right, and Minke whales. Like all mammals, whales breathe air into lungs, are warm-blooded, breast-feed their young, and have some (although very little) hair. The whales' ancestors lived on land, and their adaptions to a fully aquatic life are quite striking. The body is fusiform, resembling the streamlined form of a fish. The forelimbs, also called flippers, are paddle-shaped. The end of the tail holds the fluke, or tail fins, which provide propulsion by vertical movement. Although whales generally do not possess hind limbs, some whales (such as sperm whales and baleen whales) sometimes have rudimentary hind limbs; some even with feet and digits. Most species of whale bear a fin on their backs known as a dorsal fin.