A Sea Life Centre and A Wildlife Rescue Sanctuary

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I selected a nice spot along the river. It was quite a good spot and nobody seemed to be particularly interested in it. There were a lot of cars passing back and forth along the road in front of the spot I had chosen. It was secluded and close to the river. But the walk to the river dredged up a bunch of mosquitoes, so I only went once and I didn't end up staying that long as a result. But the spot was quite nice and I spent a very pleasant night. Because of the long nap in the evening, I ended up sleeping not very long at all. But the deceptiveness of night and day in the north left me thinking it must be quite late. It was quite light outside. But it turned out to be only 7:30 or so. Well, that meant an early start to the day. Good for me.



I headed into Seward and had a shower in the public shower facility on the harbourfront. I guess the free camping in the woods and the need for showers afterwards is something that is embraced by the town.



Having spent so much on my campsite the night before, I decided I could splash out a bit for breakfast. I headed to an actual restaurant and had an actual breakfast. Well as actual as a breakfast can be in a restaurant.



Next it was to the other main attraction in town, after boat tours to the national park, the Alaska Sea Life Centre. This was a place that I thought was about preserving sea species of coastal Alaska. But... It's a zoo. They have sea birds, puffins, murres, gulls, and ducks. Some are relatively narrowly dispersed in the environment. For example, they have a number of kittiwakes of some sort (I forget the exact type), and the guy in the enclosure told us proudly that they are the only facility anywhere that has captive breeding pairs of the birds. They are only found on a couple of islands in the world and those are fairly near to Seward. When I asked if they used the breeding pairs to build up stock to repopulate the wild groups, he told me that the wild populations were healthy. In short, no. They just keep them in order to keep them. And show them off to a visiting public. And charge for it, of course. There are salmon at various stages of development, including adults that are about to become spawning adults. I don't know if they release them to do their thing, but I kind of doubt it though I didn't ask. There are some harbour seals and some sea lions.



There were information/learning panels all over the place telling about this species or that, their characteristics and how they live. They have a deep dive pool, “the deepest diving pool anywhere,” for the diving sea birds. They proudly proclaim they have enrichment activities for the animals, like the seals, to keep them interested and keep them from becoming neurotic like the animals in other zoos that go crazy from being kept captive without want, but without anything to keep their minds working properly. They have informative talks about various topics ranging from conservation, to the glaciers and how they affect the earth, to which animals are there and how they are cared for.



But it's still a zoo, it feels like a zoo, the animals are in cages and pens that are still much smaller than they would have naturally, and probably too small, and they charge a rather large fee for entry. They tell of how the entry fee goes to the care of the animals, yadda, yadda, yadda. They also offer special access to the animals as they are being cared for and such. For an extra fee, of course. That was an extra fee after the 20 dollars paid just for entering. It all came off as a giant money-making machine to me. I left with a rather distasteful feeling about the place.



And in that frame of mind, I headed back up the highway towards Anchorage. When I had come down, I had not done some of the scenic stops along the way to take photos because I wanted to make sure I got to Seward in time for the boat tour. And, as I told the ladies in the reservation office in Anchorage who told me about how I could do that on the drive down, “It will be scenic on the way back as well.” Well, I was mistaken in that assertion. The clouds had been high and the mountains could be seen as I made my way to Seward. On the way back the next afternoon, the clouds were low and it was grey and kind of dull. And I wasn't particularly scenic at all. So I didn't end up stopping at too many places on the way back at all.



I also wanted to stop at another place I had heard of. This was the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Centre. This was supposed to be a non-profit enterprise that took in wild animals that had been hurt or orphaned. I had heard that the place had large (if not quite as large as the animals would be inhabiting in the wild) enclosures and that it was possible to see more or less natural behaviour in the animals.



In many cases, injured animals were nursed back to health while trying not to take away their wildness, and then released back to their natural lives. In cases where the wildness was not able to be preserved for some reason, a permanent home was made for the animals at the centre. For instance, a bald eagle was rescued that had been shot. Its wing had to be amputated. It could not ever survive on its own, so it now had a home at the centre. Other animals, a few grizzly bears, a couple of moose, and a few others had come in as babies and hadn't had a chance to get imprinted properly for natural behaviours. They wouldn't be able to survive on their own, so they were kept permanently at the centre.



Another project the centre was involved in was the re-introduction of wood bison to Alaskan wild lands. They have been extinct in Alaska for many decades both because they were hunted to extinction and because of changes to habitat and getting crowded out by people. A plan to bring them back was enacted, and the centre got to play the part of growing a new herd. Some animals were acquired from wild populations in Canada and then they were bred and grown at the AWCC. In consultation with the First Nations of Alaska some suitable areas for release have been selected. In 2013, they will be taken out and put into the wild. It is hoped that new herds will become established in Alaska, serving as a re-introduction and as a further resource for the subsistence living of the First Nations of Alaska. It is an exciting project and just for that, I was wanting to see what their operation looked like.



This place was only 10 dollars. Point one in its favour. The enclosures were very large. The place has 200 acres and the enclosures are many acres each. The animals have plenty of space to roam and be. Point two. They are fed quite naturally, and also basically forage in the enclosures, as they would in nature, for other things like vegetation in the case of bears and moose, or they have to catch live prey, in the case of lynx. Point three. It is a very noble project and it doesn't feel like a zoo, although they also have interpretive programs, and information plaques all over and the animals are “penned.” But they clearly state their intentions, they tell where the animals came from and why the ones that have to stay have to stay. The feel of the place is much, much different. I would choose to return to the AWCC anytime, while I would never go back to the Sea Life Centre in Seward ever again.



And I got to see grizzly bear behaviour in a naturalistic setting. They are fascinating.



Then I headed the rest of the way to Anchorage, stopping on the way to have a look for some beluga whales in Turnagain Arm, an inlet from the Gulf of Alaska. The belugas there are quite rare and in decline. I hoped to see some, so I could report it to the authorities to help them figure out what is happening to the whales. I thought I had seen one, but I think it was just a tree branch. Oh well. They didn't show themselves for me. Maybe next time.

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Photos

A Puffin
A captive puffin in the Alaska Sea Life Centre, basically a zoo that keeps cpative populations of sea life from nearby waters. They charge a lot to go in and see them, too.

Seward's Fjord
Somewhere out there is where the animals from the Sea Life Centre actually belong, particularly since the centre isn't really conserving the species, as they are currently healthy.

Grizzly Bear
The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Centre takes in orphaned and injured animals, nurses them back to health and releases those that can survive back into the wild. It's a much nicer place to visit than the Sea Life Centre.

Bison
Part of the herd being prepared for release into the Alaskan wilderness to try and repopulate the bison herds.