Note: if you click on the photos they will get bigger and you can see the wildlife a little better.
Seward has a lot to offer, but early in the morning I talked
to the couple camped next to me, and they told me about a wonderful cruise they
had taken the day before, and what they saw. I thought to myself that I might do
that tomorrow, but on the way into town, I realized that today was a perfect
day for cruising (sunny and clear), so I went to find out if I could get on
one. I could! It left at 11 AM (it was
now 10) and it included lunch, so I didn't have to scrounge something to take
with me! Somehow, the idea of being in the Kenai Fjords National Park and not
seeing the Kenai Fjords just didn't make sense!
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| I love how the islands get lighter as they get farther away. |
What a trip! We saw
sea otters, humpback whales, Orca whales, porpoises, Puffins, kittiwakes,
murres (the last 3 are birds), stellar sea lions (although we were too far away
for my pictures to look like more than a bunch of meal worms!!), and a fabulous
humpback whale and cub at the end, after the battery on my camera quit L. The mama whale was
teaching her baby about some of the maneuvers they can do, and it was amazing
to watch them. There was a ranger on board who was very knowledgeable about all
kinds of marine animal behavior. He had worked at the Sea Life center for 7 years,
after retiring as a school principal. I guess this was his third life – park ranger!
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| Three sea otters. |
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| Humpback Whale |
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| Porpoise |
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| Orca, one of a pod of about 19 who were all swimming around us |
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| Puffin in the upper center of the photo if you click to enlarge it. |
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| Not sure if these are gulls or kittiwakes |
We cruised out of Resurrection Bay to the Holgate glacier. This
one was quite different from the Columbia glacier that we saw out of Valdez. There
was very little ice in the sea, and we were able to get quite close to the face
of the glacier.
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| Holgate Glacier |
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| The jagged teeth at the top of the glacier make you realize that it's not a smooth highway! |
I guess there was some sea ice – the crew netted some and used
it for these margaritas! The ice in them
lasted for a very long time!!
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