This is an 1899 photo shows buildings of the Orca salmon cannery along the shore, mountain background, waters of Orca Inlet in foreground. The cannery was constructed by the Pacific Steam Whaling Company in 1889 in Cordova, and moved to its present location in 1895.

I worked at Orca Cannery in 1971, and it was an unforgettable experience. Before Orca, I had worked in Waterfall (SE Alaska 1970), and Egegik (Bristol Bay 1971), but none of them prepared me for the one month at Orca in 1971.

It was July 1971, towards the end of the season, I was working as an egg-puller at NEFCO cannery in Egegik, when I got called in by my Japanese boss. He asked if I would like to make some extra money to continue working in another cannery. I answered yes without any hesitation; and the next day, I was on a plane to Orca – along with my working partner. We arrived just in time of a big salmon run. As soon as we got up the following morning, we were sent to the production line and started pulling eggs. From that point on, we worked day and night, for 30 days straight without a break. We worked 14 hours per day on average, and there were a few 18 hours days. Usually, we got back in the wee hours of the morning, we couldn’t go to bed right away because we were still high on andredline. We were lucky to catch a few hours of sleep; before we had to get up for another day of work. The schedule was grueling, and it was work, work, and work – something that I have never experienced before or since. It seems that we were following an old rule: the cannery keeps running as long as there is fish to process.

During the coffee breaks, we sat on the dock and admired at the scenery of the Prince William Sound. It was prettier than Puget Sound where we came from – more pristine, more tranquil, and more snow on the mountains. During those 10 minutes, we tried to take in as much as we can – before heading back to the dark, damp, noisy workplace inside the cannery. It was a summer I will never forget. During my 30 days at Orca Cannery, it was all spent between work and sleep. I never had time to venture out, and those precious 10 minutes coffee breaks were my best memories of my time in Orca.

I only found out recently that the Orca cannery was closed in the 1980s, but I had no idea what caused the cannery to close – it came as a surprise because it was related with the Exxon Valdez accident. Here is a photo of the Exxon Valdez in Prince William Sound, Alaska from USEPA with the following description: “Shortly after midnight on March 24, 1989, the 987-foot tank vessel Exxon Valdez struck Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, rupturing its hull and spilling nearly 11 million gallons of Prudhoe Bay crude oil into a remote, scenic, and biologically productive body of water. What followed was the largest oil spill in coastal waters in U.S. history until the 2010 BP oil spill. The oil slick spread over 3,000 square miles and onto over 350 miles of beaches in Prince William Sound, one of the most pristine and magnificent natural areas in the country.”

Orca Cannery closed soon after the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. Today, the cannery has been converted to a resort – Orca Adventure Lodge. Taka look, there is a view of the lodge and the surrounding area:

https://on.bubb.li/232281aw0ju8rrasbtwmhh7/

Photo credit: Village of Orca, Prince William Sound, Alaska, June 1899. Caption on image: Orca–Prince William Sound. Photograph taken by Edward S. Curtis, official photographer 1899 Harriman Alaska Expedition. Wikimedia Commons

Exxon Valdez, USEPA Environmental Protection Agency, Sept 10, 2014, public domain, Wikimedia Commons