Seward, AK

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Wednesday August 15, 2007 We woke up to a rainy day, but we didn’t let it dampen our spirits. Today we were scheduled for the boat tour of Kenai Fjords National Park. There were only 8 people on the boat (it was a small one) and there was some question as to whether it would go out, but it did. The further we got from town, the better the weather. By the time we reached the Gulf of Alaska the sun was out!
The highlight of the tour was the sea birds and mammals. The captain was a woman and she did a good job finding wildlife and narrating the trip. Frank loved it because she knew a lot about birds and geology. The temperature was comfortable and the seas were fairly smooth. I’ve read that the Gulf can be pretty rough. This is the northern most section of the Pacific Ocean.
The day was productive. We saw tufted and horned puffins, bald eagles, cormorants, lots of gulls, orca whales, stellar sea lions and a sea otter. Those are the ones I remember! I know Frank has more documented! The scenery was great and the group was congenial Frank said it was on par with the Tracy Arm trip we took in Juneau. I liked Tracy Arm a little better because the tidewater glacier we saw there was such a deep blue. The scenery was better at Tracy Arm but the wildlife was definitely better in Seward. The day was very enjoyable.
There was one other thing that made Frank’s day. When he did the glacier walk in McCarthy he collected some glacier water in a bottle. I think he wanted to do some experiment with it or look at it under a microscope when we got home, something like that. He labeled the bottle and put it in the refrigerator with the other water bottles. It was there for at least 3 weeks and then he looked for it this week and it was gone. Supposedly I drank it (yuck - with all that ancient dirt and girt). Today they fished some glacier ice out of the water and Frank took a piece. He was very happy because he can do his experiment on this bergy bit (that’s what a small piece of glacier is called). So the bergy bit’s home is now in our freezer. Stouffer dinners are its neighbors (and it is close quarters). Let’s hope there are no refrigerator problems that would doom the berg bit.

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Photos

Seward Harbor
The weather wasn't too promising

Clearing Weather
The rain stopped and the clouds parted as we traveled down Resurrection Bay.

Sun on the Mountain Top
You could see the mountain peaks along the shore.

Male Orca
Not too far out in the Gulf we saw a pod of Orca whales.

Female Orca
The female was smaller.

Horned Puffins
Swimming in formation.

Common Murres at Home
The boat passed by several seabird rookeries.

Black-legged Kittewakes
Most of the birds lived on the same island together.

Holgate Glacier
This glacier wasn't calving much. The day was much warmer than it had been on the boat trip in Juneau