Boat Tour through Kenai Fjords

Good morning, my friends. Well, I suppose I could have taken more pictures yesterday, but it would have been difficult. We might have enjoyed nicer weather too, but I doubt we would have enjoyed our cruise any more than we did on this drizzly, gray day. So with so many pictures to show you, we should just get started. You might want to top off your coffee cup.

We were on a boat similar to the ones you see below. Ours had a catamaran hull.

Leaving the harbor in Seward, it looked like this. We only hoped our 6-hour cruise wouldn't end up like Gilligan's.

Four bald eagles watched us go...sentinels of the harbor, one presumes. We've only seen one other eagle so far. I expect we'll see more at our next stop.

We were able to see the tops of the mountains surrounding Seward. They've been shrouded in cloud cover for most of our time here.

I'm posting these pictures pretty much in the order I took them. The first wildlife we spotted were these harbor seals lounging on the shore.

A little while later, we spotted this Mountain nanny goat with her two kids.

Next up, we saw the Bear Glacier. Our guide explained to us that the Kenai Fjords are true fjords having been carved out by glaciers, some as much as a mile thick. There are underwater trenches 1,000 feet deep here. The Bear Glacier is the largest glacier in the national park.

We moved into this area known as The Spires. There was lots of aquatic life back here.

First, we spotted these Pidgeon Guillemot on the cliffs and in the water. I love their red feet.

Also, these big meaty sea stars.

It was a pretty place back in here...small for the boat we were in, but our captain expertly maneuvered us in and out.

Next, we spotted whales. We spent quite a bit of time here when the whales dove deep and stayed down for about 7 minutes. When they resurfaced, I was able to capture several images of the "blow" as they resurfaced. These are Fin whales. They are the second-largest living things on the planet, weighing as much as 80 tons. The only larger living thing is the Blue whale.

These next ones were a gray whale cow and her calf.

Here's another Fin whale.

Our guide explained to us that this behavior is known as "logging."

It's when the whales float on the surface and "sleep."

Moving on, we passed by this cliff, hosting what appears to be an army of Common Murres.

Here's a closer look at them. Despite their name, Common Murres are not at all "common."

Next, we spotted Steller sea lions. 

Steller sea lions are on the endangered species list. It's unknown exactly why, but their numbers dropped significantly in the 1980's. They are making a comeback, but they remain on the list. Here's a large grouping of them.

This big guy was wallering around, making quite a bit of noise. He seemed to be the king of this crew.

Next up...tufted puffins. They are better swimmers than fliers. The only birds that are better swimmers are penguins, although penguins have lost their ability to fly.

Here's a closer look.

We spotted a single sea otter. We would see more later. In the meantime, we visited another glacier.

Returning to the harbor, we saw this grouping of sea otters.

They are impossibly cute. A person with less restraint than I might try to capture one and bring it home for a pet.

This next photo is one I found online. There were Dall's porpoise playing in the bow wake of our boat. I was nearly frozen solid with cold when that happened, and I was inside getting warmed up. I regret not being motivated enough to go outside and take a look. They appear like a small orca, but they are not related.

We saw more whales here.

This one waved hello with its flipper.

Getting closer to the glacier, we found ice floes. They clunked and clanged on the hull of our boat. Some of them were large enough for harbor seals to rest.

And there's the Tidewater glacier, "tidewater" meaning it ends at the ocean. It was enormous. This is a part of the Harding Icefield.

Here's another shot with the bow of the boat for some scale.

It was high-rise building tall. And it cracked and shed large hunks of ice while we watched and listened.

Here's a pano of the whole thing.

Most of the calving was happening at this area in the middle.

Some of the pieces were large, but our guide informed us that a true "iceberg" must stand at least nine feet above the water line. These are known as "bergy bits."

The blue color comes from the refraction of light. Our guide told us that if we were to hack off a chunk of this ice, it would be crystal clear.

And that was pretty much the end of our tour. We might have enjoyed better weather, but we were fortunate to see so much wildlife. The rain never managed to get above a drizzle, and so we stayed pretty dry. It was very cold, however, and the temperatures never got above the 40's while we were out.

This is our last morning in Seward. We'll be heading for Homer tomorrow. Today we'll go back and take the Exit Glacier Trail to the Exit Glacier lookout. I believe there are two hikes there for a total of about 2-1/2 miles. Also, I owe you a quilt shop post. I'll get that posted next, so stay tuned.