So, after only about 3 hours of sleep, in mostly daylight overnight period, I arose at 4:15am for the journey to Seward Alaska. I had rented a car for the day and took the early morning drive to Seward. It is only about 120 miles but takes a solid 2.5 hours due to some construction and some mountain driving.
Scenery? Well I was almost late for my tour as the scenery along the way was amazing. Alaska is incredible. As I arrived in the little town of Seward, on Resurection Bay, I found a little shop and had a fresh breakfast burrito, and then made my way to the tour boat that would take me on a 9 hour tour into the National Park. This particular tour went the furthest out of the bay, into the open ocean of the Gulf of Alaska, and then into the Northwestern Fjord.
Not 10 minutes having pulled out of the harbor, we came across a Sea Otter just floating on his back sleeping. The bay was extremely calm and the sun had not gotten high enough to really peek over most of the mountain peaks yet. But this Sea Otter was just floating on his back, occassionally doing a barrel roll to keep his body wet. The guide said it was like a wetsuit, that the water trapped in his fur warms up to help keep him warm.
A little later, and further out in the bay we came across a young Humpback whale. We followed him for a bit. Nothing too exciting in terms of breaching, but we did see his tail fluke and he exhaled right near us at one point before diving deep.
THen we came across tons of Orca Whales (Killer Whales). Several variety, and all were spying on us, jumping and just having a good time all around us. We even picked up their sounds with hydrophones as they seemed to be just having fun.
Later we came across another Humpback Whale, a mom with her calf. It was just casually cruising, with calf right by its side. Very cool. Then we spied some Sea Lions, sunning on the shore. But the water was rough as we were in more open waters so we sped past. We'd see more later.
We turned into a bay, calmer waters, and there we spotted a Bald Eagle perched in a tree watching us. As we krept closer, he soared away to another tree, more hidden. But still he kept a watchful eye on us. And then another lone Humpback just cruising the sheltered waters.
We finally entered the Northwestern Fjord. Passing by several small glaciers, we suddenly noticed lots of floating ice. More and more, mostly small, but as we got deeper into the fjord they got more plentiful and bigger. Clunk! That one hit the boat! Then more. Was kinda fun, everyone was joking bout Titanic. But these boats can handle these small icebergs. We rounded a corner in the Fjord and then we saw the Northwestern Glacier. Right down the mountain into the sea. As we got closer we heard thunder. No, wait, the sky was clear....that was the glacier. It moans, and groans, and every now and then you catch a chink calving off into the ocean. Some small, and others large with huge sprays as the ice hits. Then the sound comes rumbling. We turned off the boat and just drifted and listened. AMAZING!
Oh, and on the ice bergs were tons of harbor seals. Some moms with their pups, keeping a watchful eye on us.
Eventually we made our way out, and over to a sheer granite cliff carved by the glacier when it was much bigger and further down the fjord. We spotted mountain goats literally on the ledges of the cliffs, some momma goats and their kids. Plus, waterfalls just pouring off these cliffs that soared 500-800 ft high. The water coming from the snow up above. Another Bald Eagle was here watching us again.
We then ran into the fastest Dolphins in the world, although I forget their name. They were fast, and raced the boat.
We left the fjord, and out to some of the islands in the Gulf of Alaska. Tons of sea birds. Then we spotted huge spray spouts on the horizon. The guide says they were too big for Orcas, maybe even for Humpbacks. It may be the 2nd largest whale in the world, the Fin Whale. They tend to be shy, and they are very fast whales. As we made our way out into open waters we saw spray spouts everywhere. Some Humpbacks, very LARGE ones and the Fin Whales. We stayed and spied on them for 30 minutes.
On our way back in we stopped at a popular sunning rock for Sea Lions. They were barking and roaring like crazy.
On our way back into the harbor, we saw the Sea Otter again, still snoozing on his back, although he did wake to poke a look at us as we drifted by him.
On the drive back to Anchorage, I stopped for a Moose who was just strolling the river bank. Cool. Only thing missing this trip was a bear!!! But I got lots of days left!
Bedtime! Pics hopefully soon.
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