Kenai Fjords, Seward, Alaska: Glaciers, Halibut, & Whales, Oh My!

(Travel Info and Links at bottom of page after video)

On my second morning in The Last Frontier, Glacier walked into my life. An 80-pound, drooling, furry, sad-eyed sweetie pie. And I'm not a dog-lover. Dogs make my eyes itch and water and my throat close up, but Glacier - a face nobody can resist.
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After our incredible breakfast in the Seward Waterfront Lodging solarium overlooking Resurrection Bay, we headed over to the harbor. Doug and Ethan booked an all-day salmon/halibut fishing trip at The Fish House across the street from the docks while the rest of us picked up our previously reserved tickets for the 8 hour glacier boat tour.

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It sounds long, but it was excellent. The seas were a little choppy and some in our group felt a little queasy....


On the ship, we had an assigned table to use as "basecamp" for the duration of the cruise. I threw down my backpack and headed out to the front of the boat. The others stayed back at the table, out of the cold wind.
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We brought an empty binocular bag, but the ship had a huge box full of binoculars for us to use. I grabbed a pair and pretty much stayed like this until the food was served and lured me inside. I stood out there, rocking and rolling with the wind and waves, smile on my face and just watched the landscape -- the caves along the water line, the glacier-streaked mountains, the bald eagle on a high point, keeping the peace.
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The water in Resurrection Bay is a mossy green from all the plankton, a milky consistency from the glacier runoff. We rounded Caines Head, approaching the gulf where the water turned a glossy black or midnight blue.
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As we cruised, a park ranger periodically narrated the tour with great information. Whenever anyone spotted an animal, the ship would slow or stop and let us watch awhile.
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To the right is the first animal we found -- a bald eagle, right on the tip of that point, guarding the entrance to the Bay.
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We saw a lot of Arctic Terns, Horned Puffins, Tufted Puffins, a few Dall Porpoises, Humpback Whales, Sea Otters and the endangered Steller Sea Lions. The Porpoises look like orca whales, black and white, and they loved to frolic in our wake (see video below).

It was incredible to be looking out and see a whale spouting.
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All the whales we saw were humpbacks and two of them had a baby alongside. Adorable! It was neat for me to remember being in Hawaii one April and seeing the Humpbacks begin their migration after they've mated and given birth in that beautiful and honey-moon popular state. And now, a few years later, I got to see them nearing the end of their migration. It was also interesting to see how close to the shoreline they could swim here in AK.
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Finally we rounded Aialik Cape and entered the Bay. I went inside for our prime rib/lobster buffet which was wonderful. We had plenty of time to eat where the water wasn't so choppy.
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After the buffet, we were at the foot of the Aialik Glacier and we were absolutely awestruck. (We flew up in the midst of glaciers and landed on one later in the week, that's a later post) Out on the deck, camera in hands, all of us silent. The glacier moaned, crackled and thundered as she calved, cascading bits of snow and ice into the water, producing mini tidal waves.

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It sounded like thunder and echoed around the bay. This glacier stems off the Harding Icefield, like Exit Glacier, which is accessible by land, where we hiked the previous day. Watching the glaciers calve is really a worshipful experience. Little did we know it was just the tip of the iceberg for us. Later in the week, upstate, when we flew above the glaciers and walked among them, well, that was even more awesome. I can't wait to show the pictures from that!

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Our ride back to shore was a lot less exciting. It got gray and gloomy and the rain came in. The sea was choppier and I stayed inside the cabin most of the return trip. As we entered the harbor, we found this bald eagle checking us out.
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I video taped the others playing cards so you can see how choppy the water got. Jackie was too sea sick and ill from pneumonia to do much, I just read, wrote and glared out the windows, but Tom, Jan and B had fun playing poker. The pepper packets were their ones; salt, fives; sugar, tens. I had to laugh when I heard B call out, "Mama! I'm winnin' us some pepper!!"
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My other Alaska Posts:
The Seward Highway
Kenai: Dipnetting
Seward: Exit Glacier
Alaska or Busted

Travel Info:
The Fish House. Fishing charters and a general mdse. store.
Wild Nature Photography. Professional photos of the area. If your family's taking a trip out here, why not arrange for a photo shoot and get a new family photo for your mantle. (we did that one year in Moab, Utah)
Major Marine Tours. Great tours of the bay. Take the long one.
Seward Waterfront Lodging. B&B. Excellent people, Excellent food, Excellent view. Musty, old rooms, quaint, difficult for allergies, but excellent in every other aspect. The staff is helpful with your touring reservations and plans.
Mt. Marathon, Seward, AK.
Seward Trolley
The Drive to Seward
Kenai Fjords
Miller's Landing


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