In southeast Alaska, you’ll find Lynn Canal, an inlet that connects to the mainland. The inlets of the Chilkat River in the south and Stephens Passage to the north form the northern boundary of the Alexander Archipelago. The Coast Mountains rise on its eastern side, making this fjord the farthest northerly to cut through them. When it comes to fjords, the Lynn Canal is not only the longest and deepest in North America but also one of the longest and deepest in the globe.
It turned out that the waterway known as Lynn Canal was at the center of a disagreement over the “Alaskan Panhandle,” the narrow stretch of Pacific coastline that separates British Columbia and Alaska. The canal splits in two just south of Haines, with one entrance leading to the mouth of the Chilkat River and the other leading to the port of Skagway through Taiya Inlet and the end of the Inside Passage (Alaska Marine Highway) from Washington state. Humpback whales and northern, or Steller, sea lions are only two of the marine species that make their home in the canal.
