Advertisement
We've had two more amazing days since last I wrote. Yesterday we took a 9 hour boat tour from the Kenai Fjords Company of the waters around Seward, Resurrection Bay through the Northwestern Fjords. To say it was incredible is an understatement. The weather was, as it has been until tonight, chilly and rainy. The captain assured us that while people don't like that kind of weather it would be great for seeing wildlife, and it was. We weren't out on the boat 20 minutes when 3 porpoises swam right by us and within a half hour, we saw our first humpback whale! And we saw 3 more during the day...and dozens stellar sea lions, harbor seals, puffins (!), and an amazing array of birds, my favorite being the common murr, a bird that looks like a penquin. The captain, in a most soothing voice, shared information about the wildlife and their habits and the geology of the area, which was breathtaking. You can see from the pictures just a little of what it was like. The highlight, and most moving part of the day, was the Northwestern Glacier stop. As the boat is moving along through the Northwestern Fjord the
captain pointed out the spot where the glacier would have been 100 years ago and then he went 10 more miles before we came to the glacier. It had receded that much. If that wasn't sad enough, he pointed out how much rock was showing on the face of glacier that hadn't been visible in the 20 years he had been doing these tours. I joked with people who asked why we were going to Alaska by saying I wanted to see a glacier while they were still around but actually that's not a joke. It's the sad truth. Today on our way out of Seward, we went to Exit Glacier Nature Center and hiked to the edge of that glacier and the its story is the same. It's receding at an incredible pace, water is rushing from it, and there are markings on the rocks of where it was just years ago. I won't go into a dissertation on global warming (I don't know enough about it to do that anyway) but you get what I mean. I hope my children and grandchildren will have the opportunity to see these wonders of the world but for the first time
Horbor seals
floating on chunks of ice in the waters near the boat I have great doubts that it's very likely.
On a more fun note, I loved the boat tour...I couldn't sit still inside (even though it was warm and dry)...the noises of the birds and animals when we got close, the feel of the boat moving through the water felt great. I ended up cold, wet, and tired but it was great. We ended the day watching fishermen show off their catches of the day at Seward wharf, and of course with dinner and some great local white ale from the Seward Brewing Company.
Today we traveled from Seward to Homer after our stop to hike to Exit Glacier. Once again a 3 hour drive took 7 or 8 hours but more on that next time.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.111s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 10; qc: 50; dbt: 0.0551s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Terry
non-member comment
It\'s the first time I\'ve commented on a blog. You know how savvy I am about technology lol. Keep blogging and I\'ll keep watching for you. I didn\'t know about the Puffins\' wings.