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Published: July 23rd 2021
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Today’s activities included the opportunity to snorkel in the crazy cold Alaska waters. And there were 8 brave souls, including myself that chose to do it. While I have snorkeled a lot in the Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii and Belize, I have never done so in my backyard of the Pacific Northwest. The water is frigidly cold year- round, and the viewing is very dependent on the kelp and visibility distance. So, why not give it a shot here?
We all got fitted for 14mm thick wetsuits, which were like a total body spanx. Just getting the first piece on was a massive undertaking and a great workout on its own. Two pieces for the body, booties, gloves and a head covering made for quite the vision, pretty much Michelin man-like. We all waddled to the skiff and soon we were off to our snorkel. We pulled up to a small rock island and after donning our goggles, snorkel and fins were all in the 40-degree water. Once in, I felt a steady stream of cold water down my back and a bit in my gloves and booties. From that point, it stayed very tolerable and every so often, another trickle
would come through and give me a shiver.
In the water, we saw massive amounts of kelp surrounding the sheer rock of the island. Since we were are all being very considerate, as with all the other activities, we were hesitant to touch it. But our guide Brady yelled “pull it back that is where all the cool stuff is!”. So, we dug in. I was partnered with Rick, and he was great about plowing through the large wavy leafy plants and sure enough, there were sea stars, shrimp, crabs, massive white sea anemones and other small creatures of the sea.
We were in the water for about an hour before it was time to haul our bodies into the boat and enjoy some wonderful hot chocolate. As soon as we were heading back to the boat, we saw what is now the familiar spray of a humpback whale and this one had a baby with her! We slowed down and had a wonderful 20 minutes of slowly tracking the 2 whales as they flapped their fins, showed their tail (fluke) and did a small breach (jump). We have seen quite a few on the trip so far
and this one was the best (so far) as we were close enough to really get a great view.
I got back and had an awesome hot shower after getting peeled out of my wetsuit. Ken, on the other hand had chosen the all-day kayak and baby bushwhack trip. I had a great lunch with the non all-day kayakers and then took a “meander” on the beach for my afternoon activity. It was relaxed and we mostly stayed on shore, with a short excursion into the woods.
After I returned, I relaxed until Ken returned totally whipped. After 2.5 hours of kayaking, a bushwhack and another 2.5 hours back…he was tired, sore and not ready for another kayak trip. Thankfully, he had a great paddle partner in Maggie, which made the excursion so much better!
As we gathered for our requisite before dinner beverages, it was time for the whales to reappear. And reappear they did! The entire ship was at every vantage point, watching them breach, fluke and flap like they were enjoying life. It certainly livened up the dinner and made for even greater stories over the beverages.
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