Funter Bay and Another Sad Chapter in History

Leaving Excursion Inlet, we followed Airship into Peril Strait, our trip delayed for some front row whale watching. The name Peril Straight is not due to navigation hazards, but was named after a large number of Aleut sea otter hunters died from paralytic shellfish poisoning after eating blue mussels in 1799. The place of the incident is called Poison Cove.

We passed an island with an explosion of Fireweed on our way to anchor in Coot Cove of Funter Bay. Off to explore by dinghy, we found this Russian Orthodox Cross, flanked by Columbine, marking an entrance into the forest.

A short hike along a forest path ends at a memorial cross and a small graveyard with stone markers indicating all the deaths occurring in 1942-45.

In 1942, after Japan's attack on Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands, the U.S. government forcibly relocated 1500 Aleuts (the Unangax) from the islands to Funter Bay and housed them in a defunct cannery under difficult conditions. At least 30 marked graves are located here and are preserved in the Funter Bay State Marine Park.

It was a peaceful walk along the shore and in the forest with a field of Foxglove,

Huckleberries,

and an interesting stone beach.

Back to Juneau where we moored in Auke Bay, north of town this time,

amongst the big boys. Dog Star was not intimidated (at the end of the dock in the distance).