SEWARD AND THE KENAI FJORD CRUISE

After a few days of rest and recreation in Anchorage we drove down to Seward to spend a couple of days and take a Fjord cruise.

No pictures to share because it rained pretty much the whole way. We know there were big mountains but they were all hidden in the mist.

We got to Seward early so we went to the aquarium before checking into our "hotel", which was a collection of old military buildings that got moved to Seward by truck after the 1964 earthquake and tsunami destroyed the town.

The aquarium, on the other hand looks brand new even though it's celebrating it's 20th anniversary.
From Wikipedia: "The Alaska Sea Life Center, Alaska’s premier public aquarium and Alaska's only permanent marine mammal rehabilitation facility, is located on the shores of Resurrection Bay in Seward in the U.S. state of Alaska."

Birds greeted us.

Then we saw a Mama seal nursing her baby.

And a beautiful starfish.

Carol REALLY has a thing for otters. River otters, sea otters, doesn't matter. Even though the Park Rangers had made it very clear that they are pretty nasty little creatures, "Kind of like a cuddly looking wolverine in water", she still loves to watch them. And she had never seen any in the wild.

Got a taste of things to come at the Sea Life Center. They had a nursery - with a one month old rescued sea otter.

That is NOT Carol. She did seriously considered applying for the job. But, as cute as he was, he still wasn't free. That was still to come.

I guess there isn't an up and down when you're buoyant.

I don't think Finn understands.

Lots of other wonderful creatures.

Pandora's cousin ?

"Deadliest Catch"

The next day sort of dawned. It was another rainy day in Alaska. Low clouds and steady light rain punctuated by heavy showers.

What a great day for a sightseeing cruise. Oh well, we'd had perfect weather for our first tour and saw lots of mountains and glaciers and wildlife, so this just is what it is.

Fortunately I had booked a larger enclosed boat. So we'd at least be warm and dry.

If you ever plan an short Alaskan cruise, there is one critical detail you need to ask. "Does the boat have outside viewing along the sides of the boat". We weren't informed enough to ask but fortunately our boat did not. It had lots of outside viewing but it was on the bow and at the stern. The difference? If there are walks along the sides, and you want to sit at your window seats, warm and cozy inside, you will see nothing except the backs of other people's heads.

Our boat, on the other hand, allowed great sightseeing from our booth. So we all settled in to enjoy the ride.

Although we had a catamaran and the seas were only 5' or so, the ride wasn't as pleasant as we had hoped. All of us took a couple of seasickness prevention pills and all of got queasy.

Even Finn.

The views kept us occupied and somewhat distracted.

FINALLY ! Carol saw a sea otter.

As we headed out to sea there were a few hardy people on the bow catching the breeze and the heavy mist.

We all ventured out at some point during the 7 1/2 hour cruise.But those on the aft decks weren't there for the view as much as the fresh air. Which didn't help many.

The first interesting sight was a reminder of WWII and how close to Japan Alaska is. This is a  bunker. I've not been able to find any history referring to their purpose. Japanese submarines were spotted twice in or near the entrance to Resurrection Bay.

We also saw Orca - "Killer Whales". They are not whales but they do kill prey.

Click on this picture to see that the white spot on the rock is a seal. Probably climbed onto this point to escape. You can also see a lone Orca fin. But several Orcas were patiently circling, waiting for high tide and lunch. Our captain said the boat that came through here just before us saw Orcas catch and eat a seal. I know it's "the circle of life" but we're just as glad we missed that.

We went way back into a couple of fjords. Here is our first view of ice, not quite "icebergs" from an as yet unseen glacier.

Oh, there it is. Carol was willing to step outside for this. Aialik Glacier.

On the way to the next glacier, Carol got to see some more otters. This time a pair.

The Harding Icefield sits north and west of Seward and is the point of origin for 40 glaciers. Many of them end at the ocean, usually in a fjord.  Holgate was next on our list.

We missed getting a picture. But while we were sitting looking at the glacier the was a major calving. It was more like several avalanches rather than one large iceberg, but the sound and view were unforgettable.

The birdwatchers got their money's worth too.

And then there were whales. We watched them for 15 minutes or so but these were the only pictures we got.

Stellar Sea Lions are an easier target.

Finn was a big attraction, especially to a Japanese family.

The people at Major Marine Tours were simply wonderful. Everyone from the Captain to the Park Ranger to the crew members really did act like we were the only reason for their existence. Highly recommend them from the many companies available.

After we left the boat, another otter appeared near the docks. Here are some of the pictures Carol took. I thought she overdid it a bit, but what could she do? He was 20' away and obviously not worried about people.

The next day we headed back to Anchorage with a stop at Exit Glacier along the way. We took the easy 20 minute walk to the view of the glacier. It's a beautiful walk through birch forests and along a gravel river bar. There are signs marking the location of the glacier face as it receded over the past 120 years.

The glacier is smaller than others we'd seen.

But it was the first one where the incredibly clear blue ice was visible.

 Valley glaciers don't calve like the ocean ones do. They melt. Here is the stream coming out of the bottom of the glacier.

 Sisters.

Another wonderful outing with Kris and Finn.  We'll have a few more days in Anchorage for sister time and then we're heading back home.