Whales Trump Otters on Captain Mark’s Craft

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We got our wake-up call at 5:30AM with our disembarkation scheduled for 7:15 in “Wave 3”. This is a departure from previous exits from HAL ships where luggage off-load tags were called (for example, our bags were tagged with BLACK-1). This time each wave included several types of tags and colors that were on your disembarkation instructions but they only called the wave. I just got some rolls/croissants to eat with some cheese and cold-cuts. Sharon got a couple waffles. We went back to our cabin and waited as first Wave 1 was offloaded, followed by Wave 2. We pulled our carry-ons with us as we went down to Deck 2 to exit the ship for one final time (at least for now) when they called Wave 3. The cruise director Jordan was there to say goodbye to everyone, as was the priest, and many other crew members. Near the exit we were guided to the terminal; rather than with others who were boarding busses. Our written directions told us that we would need to collect our bags in the terminal and give them to the person collecting those going to the Hospitality Center in Anchorage, and then join the bus tour that we were taking to the Kenai Fjords. But our bags weren’t there (they only had Grey tag bags no Black ones), and nobody seemed to know where they were or where we were supposed to be. One HAL agent came through looking for the Golds; so, I told him we were the Goods. It soon became clear we were the ones everyone seemed to be looking for: We were the only ones missing from our tour bus. It was only a minor hassle trying to get our carryon bags back through security but they let us through after scanning them, checking that we still had our boarding passes, and allowing the Shore Excursion Agent to escort us. We got on the bus and were assured that our BLACK-1 bags had already been bussed off to the Welcome Center in Anchorage and would be waiting for us at the end of the day. Sharon was not a happy camper as she never is when someone puts in writing the way things are; but, then reneges on that assurance and does something else instead especially if they make her look like she didn’t know what she was doing. “HAL is going to hear about this,” Sharon declared. On the bus I told her, “Take a breath… we’re starting Leg-6 of our 14-leg vacation.” And she grinned.



It was not far to the marina where our Kenai Fjords tour boat was waiting for us to board. There was a small van for us to store our carryon luggage and laptop while we toured. The craft was a double-decker craft with indoor seating, and also an outside deck areas for those wishing to take the best pictures without reflections interfering with the pictures. We were barely off the pier when Captain Mark announced the first wildlife sighting of the tour, as some furry little otters appeared to be playfully enjoying a swim. We hung around for quite some time until Captain Mark announced that he’d seen a spout, announcing that on his boat “Whales trump Otters”, and off we went to watch for a humpback. As I looked out the window I spotted some bubbles and no sooner had I done so, the Captain evidently spotted them as well, and announced that the humpback was about to breach through the bubbles. Just a few seconds later the humpback did just that, with its mouth open, and falling back into the water with a tremendous splash. Bubble-netting is one of the spectacular feeding behaviors that normally involves a large female blowing bubbles in a large circle to round up the fish and bunch them together within the ring of bubbles. Whales then rise through the gathering of fish and are usually well rewarded with their open mouths. Today we learned that a solitary whale may also engage in this technique.



Sharon had become a little chilled taking pictures outside in the misty wind and returned to the cabin, leaving her camera on the table, and then going down to the galley to get a hot chocolate. She bought the special $8 designer spill proof cup touting Kenai Fjords and its wildlife. The cup is refillable with all drinks including soda for the duration of this six hour cruise. On the left we were approaching No Name Island, and the captain told us to look for sea lions on the rocks as we sped past. “We’ll catch these fellows on the flip side,” the captain assured us.



The captain soon spotted an orca, and before long, we were in the midst of a pod of orcas visible on both sides of the ship. The males have the longer straighter dorsal fin; while, the females fin is smaller and curved. Captain Mark said that the orca pods are comprised of family members and the pod is led by a matriarch who decides all things for the pod, where they go, what they eat, who they hang around with. Orcas don’t mate within the pod; but, during times when two pods come together, thus avoiding the problem of inbreeding. Sharon was happy now, maybe even forgetting for a while the ordeal with our bags and getting on the bus and being improperly routed not to mention faulty instructions: She had seen orcas, and that’s what she came here to do.



As we pressed on to Fox Island the captain told of a lucrative business that had thrived until the Depression of raising foxes on this island. Since foxes don’t like to swim, they could be raised there and naturally contained. The fox pelts provided a profitable business until his sales dried up after the Stock Market Crash of 1929. At first, the government tried to subsidize businesses like his, affected by the depression, and did so be providing him with corn, that was to be used to feed the chickens needed to feed the foxes. But this enterprising businessman figured out something even more profitable to do with the corn and went in business as a moonshiner. These days you can come to the island and spend the night, as did the people that we were picking up. They boarded, and went downstairs where seats were reserved for them.



We saw a number of birds in and around Fox Island. One was a puffin that we spotted in the water. Another was the rhinoceros bird which the birders on board were quite excited to see. I’m more impressed with the puffin now, at least more so than I was when I’d seen one on my first visit to Alaska that had eaten so much it was no longer able to fly out of the water. These little guys can dive to depths of just over 200 feet to catch their dinner. And their cousins the common murres which we also saw can actually reach depths of over 500 feet!



We rounded Aialik Cape, an outcropping of rocks that mark the entrance to the Kenai Fjords. The captain noted that the weather was cooperating today, regaling us of times that he’d been here with tourists facing fifty MPH winds and rough seas. Lunch was included on this tour, and the galley workers brought the chicken salad wraps around to everyone in plastic baskets with chips and honey oat crackers. I also decided to buy an $8 cup and used it first for hot chocolate, and then for a soda for lunch. I thought the lunch was quite good considering; but, Sharon only liked the lightly salted Alaskan Chips (a lot). I think her exact words were something akin to “We’ve gotta get us some of these!”



We made our way to the Holgate Glacier where we spent some considerable time, and witnessed a number of calving events. There were some harbor seals lounging on some of the ice flows. There were also some mountain goats on the side of a mountain. And how they seemed to stand on apparently sheer faces boggles the mind.



We spotted more humpbacks and spent some time with them; and, followed that with another large pod of orcas and watched them put on quite a show for our benefit. Back at No Name Island we neared the rocks and saw the many lounging sea lions sunning themselves on the rocks about the water’s edge. On the way back the Captain told us the history of the Iditarod. And it didn’t surprise us when he added that he had participated and finished this race in the 1990’s.



Back at the marina, we collected our bags, got them on our bus, which interestingly had a destination placard that read “Anchorage Hotels, Airport, Alyeska, Welcome Center”. We thought that maybe the Alyeska was for our benefit; but, we were promised our Black-1 bags were at the welcome center. Too bad, because after our three-hour trip to Anchorage, we would need to make another one hour trip back towards Seward! We had a nice drive to Anchorage with a pleasant driver who did a highlight summary of many of the tour guide comments we’d already heard, such as the “Hand Method” for remembering the different types of salmon: “Thumb, rhymes with chum, for chum or dog salmon. Pointy-finger to poke someone’s eye out or sockeye salmon. Big finger or king finger for King Salmon. Ring finger for Silver Salmon. Pinky for Pink Salmon.” But he also told us about “Ghost Trees” which included many standing buckskins that still stood like sentinels since the tsunami of 1964 had sent flooding seawater into the low-lying areas, and effectively pickling these trees for eternity.



Our bags were at the Welcome Center and the HAL staff there did a fantastic job of finding us the best way to get to Alyeska. We finally did get a checker cab with a flat $90 fare. The driver greeted us noting “You’re in luck. You get the token white guy on the night shift who speaks English.” We had a nice drive and the cabbie was happy to get paid in cash with a $20 tip. This was still less than what Sharon had estimated in her budget itinerary. Our driver had lamented that the days of cabbie service in Anchorage may be coming to an end; because, Uber will commence operations here next month.



We checked in and got our bags to our room very quickly. Then we went down to dine in the in-hotel restaurant. It was a bit of a pricey meal; but, my halibut was very good and Sharon’s flank steak with pepper-sauce was very tasty as well.

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