Today will be our second paid boat trip to attempt to see whales in the last year. The Kenai Fjords National Park Tour is top rated and non-smoking. I know whales are out there so I am overwhelmed with expectations, however the weather is iffy. Rain, wind, fog, cold, but the sea is relatively calm so we take a deep breath of the cold sea air, hug our layered selves a bit tighter, climb aboard our large catamaran, up to the top level for the best view and sit, ready to go wherever the journey flows. Our captain lays down guidelines, welcomes us aboard and fires up the engine, backing out of the slip and down the Kenai Fjords with the promise of a once in a lifetime experience. Our boat is the Orca Voyager and makes smooth sailing of the fjord waters. We are all calmly seated, full of wildlife wishes and bundled in warm layers against the rain and cold. Little did we know that our Captain Extraordinaire was going to wow us all for a major portion of our six hour tour.
We passed another boat, a duplicate of ours, leaving the same time and glided by the rocky upstretched bluffs with glacial waterfalls tumbling down to the sea. We turned down the first fjord, eyes searching in every direction. Quietly we snuck up on a group of Harbor Seals lazing on the rocks, something they only do during the day as they fish at night. We got close for pictures, then backed off and continued on.
We paused by steep ledges full of birds tucked into crevasses and I spotted the second item on my “must see” list, Puffins. Both tufted and common were to be seen on our tour and we saw the first of thousands of Kittiwakes. A Bald Eagle sat higher up.
Whales, five of them traveling on while a few stopped to flip and flop in front of the boat.
A mother and calf brought up the rear.
We rounded another corner and another Bald Eagle was perched on top of an outcropping of rocks.
Eagles sat in trees waiting for us to pass so they could continue fishing. Resting on a rocky ledge above the birds was a mountain goat not moving anything but his head as he watched us leave.
As we exited the fjord for open seas, we saw a group of Humpback Whales come into view and move on by us. Further behind the group we stopped to watch a mother and calf playing together, splashing and paying no attention to us at all. Further down we spotted Stellar Sea Lions, relaxing on the rocks near the water. Sea Stars dotted the waters edge.
When we came to the crease of the fjord it was foggy but you could still make out Exit Glacier laying between the mountain.
Passing low rocky plateaus we could hear the loud insistent barking before you actually saw the blubbery Stellar Sea Lions bouncing around in the water. They too watched us pass while we all took their picture.
Curving around another fjord, the boat rocked and pitched most of the 15 minutes it took to reach the calm waters while we all sat inside to keep warm. A flock of Cormorants were perched on the rocks as we entered another fjord. Another eagle was watching from a tree limb further down the fjord.
Floating down calm waters again, we saw the mile long beautiful blue Aialik Glacier in the distance. The closer we got the louder the cracking and crackling became. The glacier calved over and over, dropping huge chunks of ice into the milky blue sea and kicking up waves two to three feet high. Our boat rocked gently as the waves moved the ice hunks until they surrounded us. We all stood on deck in awe of the magical process and sound of the glacier masses slipping into the sea. We stayed long enough for the giant chunks of ice to block our exit so the captain slowly moved the pieces from our departure path with the bows of the catamaran. Our gazes moved between watching the glacier continue to calf and the bows of the catamaran tapping the ice away from our path.
One more time around the fjord to open seas, more whales, part way down the fjord we see a bird rookery of mostly Kittiwakes and a view of the Fort McGilvray command center situated on the highest point of the bluff. With the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867 at a cost of two cents per acre, the US realized Seward’s strategic location and in 1907, finally took action in the months before World War II constructing harbor defenses and briefly transformed Seward into one of the busiest ports on the West Coast.
The bird rookery is part of the mass of 56,000 adult breeding birds, representing 17 species that crowd ledges, burrows and treetops in the area in search of food and shelter to raise and feed their young. The smell is not pleasant and their ruckus is surprisingly loud as our captain lets the boat drift near the rocks to point out the different species and give a brief description of each. Puffins flying around some of the rocks further away and a few flying close enough to get a good photo of them in flight. One even followed our boat as it left the area.
Our captain said there were whales spotted near where we first set out on our tour so we left the birds and started back. Along the way, floating on its back by itself in the middle of nowhere, was a cute furry sea otter. By this time, people were sure that some of these wild sea creatures were fake and tethered to something to keep them in the area. We all saw so much more wildlife than ever before on any of our past trips. We got so close that you could tell he was a real live otter and that he was not, in any way, tethered. After getting our fill of pictures, we left to see more whales.
The two whales feeding in deep water by the fjord were not as cooperative as others we had viewed but I got a fantastic picture of the baleen as it opened its mouth and strained in krill. It was a perfect ending to a perfect day. By the end of the tour I was wet from the waist down, my waterproof coat has lost its ability to shed water and I was getting a little cold but still not ready for it all to be over.
Got a picture of our Captain Extraordinaire, thanked him and all the staff who worked so hard to make our tour an enjoyable trip despite the cold, wet, foggy weather. Of the six hour tour, I was warm and dry for the first three hours and one of the few people that sloshed happily off the boat, the bottom half of me soaked, at the end of the tour. We drove home with the heater on high.
Exit Glacier Salmon Bake restaurant for dinner tonight. Smoky outside from all the campfires and I was still having problems with my lungs so I popped on my mask to keep the smoke out and we dinned indoors. Interesting Alaskan décor and welcoming hot fish chowder as our first course, followed by fresh caught Alaskan salmon and halibut and a canning jar full of Alaskan Amber beer. A short drive to LilyPad for an early bed time and nothing at all planned for the next day except drying off and relaxing.
