Seward!

July 16, 2013

Today, we were up at 7:00 and out the door by 8:30 to be at the dock - we decided to go on the "Wildlife Cruise", out of the harbor here at Seward - and it was WONDERFUL!!!
It was one of those things that we thought: we will probably never get up here again.......

Our Tour boat.

Loaded in, ready to depart.

We are both really happy about the decision to do this!

The harbor at Seward.

 This contraption is a VERY large conveyor system for loading coal into freighters  to be shipped where needed. It stretched way out into the harbor.

 These are 2 of the many sea Otters floating on their backs, as they clean their fur - found out that these critters have 500,000 hairs per INCH, and that is one reason the Russians hunted them almost to extinction - for the pelts, to make coats, mittens and hats for the cold Russian winters.. They are no longer on the endangered species list.

 First sight of one of the glaciers. Aialik, I believe.

While motoring across the Gulf of  Alaska we saw a LOT of wildlife, including this Humpback whale, putting on a show for us!

Around every Rock outcropping there was another surprise...

 Getting closer to the Glacier

Proud to be an American!

Beautiful little islands which were holding a surprise.

 TA DA!!!!  Sea Lions basking in the sun!

BEAUTY!!!!!!!!

Another whale!!!

We got FLUKED!!!  YEEHAW!!!!!

Calendar pix perhaps???

Came across "3 Hole Point", LOVE IT!!!!!

The below pic is the "3rd hole" but it broke off this past year, and fell right below where it was attached.

The remaining 2.

And a small grotto:

Heading on toward the glacier!

 Seeing LOTS of icebergs, the Glacier is constantly calving - breaking off big chunks of ice.

Heard what sounded like a Midwestern Thunderstorm, and then we saw THIS!
Big chunks of the glacier dropping into the bay.

 Some of the BIG ice bergs.

And in the middle of all of the ice bergs, there were 3 kayakers !!

After several shows of Calving, we turned to head back out of the inlet.
Saw more of these Sea Lions in what they called a 'Raft' of them!  Several in a group..

And we got FLUKED again!!!!

A couple of playful porpoises playing with the boat.

 And Fluked again by ANOTHER Whale! Our Captain was VERY informative and told us that the whales can be identified by their markings on their tales (flukes). They are all charted and followed.

 This guy was especially playful, slapping his pectoral fins for us!

And still ANOTHER Whale.. In one of the spots, the Captain thought there were 3, she said perhaps 2 were males and they were perhaps showing off for a female??  

And more Sea Lions sunning on the rocks.

 And these strange birds were sunning on the ledge - they are Common Murres.. these strange birds do not make nests, instead they lay their eggs on bare rocks - and both parents care for the chick.

YUP!  Another FLUKE!

 Back in the "Galley" as we prepared to disembark for the dinner on Fox Island, we saw the 'iceberg chunks' that our crew had put into this big bowl to show us up close.. - the ice was CRYSTAL clear!

We left the boat for a WONDERFUL dinner on Fox Island - this was served Buffet style and huge pans of fresh baked rolls, salad, mixed bean medley, mashed potatoes,  Baked Salmon, Slices of Prime Rib cut to your specification, and for an extra fee, Alaskan King Crab.... it was ALL WONDERFUL!!!!!

 Oh, Yeah, I got to ride a whale, too!!!!!!!!!

In the gift shop after we got back to port - this BIG FELLER!  I wanted to take him home! LOL!

This was one of the Highlights so far in our trip so far and Well worth the money spent - The cost for the two of us for that 8.5 hour tour AND the fabulous meal on Fox Island, Prime Rib and all the trimmings, was $340.00 altogether.  Spendy, but we will probably never get this way again and the weather co-operated wonderfully!

 Our lady Captain was SO informative  - she is about 40 years old, works in Seward all summer as Captain, then in winter goes back to her home in Homer, where she and her husband live.  She is an OB nurse there in the winter!

A trip of a lifetime, for SURE!!!!!