ALASKA JOURNEY

3 AUGUST 2014

There They Go!

Here They Come

After a leisurely morning hanging around the apartment and watching the action of a mommy duck and a string of her babies on a morning swim in the water off the deck, we set out to join our Major Marine Tour out of Seward on Resurrection Bay, into the Gulf of Alaska and up a Fjord to Holgate Glacier.

What is a Fjord? (Pronounced fee-YORD) A Fjord is a body of water that is basically an inlet that reaches the ocean but follows a long, narrow path inland.  It is generally surrounded by high rocky cliffs which were created by glaciation.  The movement of the glacier is so strong it can, over a long period of time, carve out land as dense and thick as rock.  Most of the world’s fjords are found in Alaska, Greenland, Norway, Chile, Canada and New Zealand.

Our Route. See the Circle On The Map For Holgate Glacier

We are barely started when the catamaran slows down to view sea otters.  There are three of them laying on their backs.  One of them is a real show-off holding up his/her little arms and then turning over in the water to bob up and do it again.  They are so much fun to watch.

The next sightings are a Bald Eagle, both Horned and Tufted Puffins, a Kittwake and Common Murre.  A mountain goat makes an appearance way up the side of a mountain and is a small buff colored dot against the black rock.

Then........... two Humpback Whales cavorting with each other.  One of them holds up both his fins at the same time and waves them about.  I have seen many Humpbacks in Hawaii and Tonga, but I have never seen one do this with both of the fins at the same time.

They entertain us for quite a while waving, breaching, rolling, and diving.  Usually once they dive it can be a long time before they surface, but because these two were playing with each other, they popped up very quickly to continue the show.  

Next we see loads of brown blobs on a rock that turn out to be Steller Sea Lions.  Later one lone Harbor Seal is asleep on a rock close to the glacier.

It is a cold and rainy overcast day, but I am prepared with a rain slicker, down vest, sweatshirt, long underwear, gloves etc.  According to some, this kind of weather is the best for viewing wildlife which is proving to be true.  The naturalist keeps saying “you guys are so lucky” over and over again.

The captain and crew warned us over and over to be aware it will be quite choppy once we are in the Alaska Gulf and they were not kidding!!  We rock, roll, pitch and yaw.  Holding on outside is a must and keeping soft knees inside keeps me from pitching over.  All I can say is thank goodness for Bonine.

Once we cross the gulf and are in the fjord headed for the glacier, the sea becomes calm enough to serve lunch.  Fresh Wild Salmon and prime rib are the choices along with a salad and rice pilaf.  Yummy.  We are eating when the naturalist says “Oh my god I don’t believe this”  She is pointing out two Orca, aka as killer, Whales

Orca "Whales"

(which are really of the dolphin family)that are following our boat as we go up the fjord to see the glacier.  It just gets better and better.

Finally the boat approaches the glacier.  It is massive with both white and blue colored ice.  It snaps, cracks and groans as it moves across the land down into the

Holgate Glacier

water.  It calves multiple times spewing out small amounts of ice and water.  The ice it releases floats in the water around the glacier.  In the picture of the large piece of ice it looks like it has a halo.  This is actually a reflection of the portion of the floating ice that is below the surface.  There is always more ice below the surface than above.

"Halo" Effect 

A large calving of a glacier creates ice burgs and the bigger the burg the more dangerous it is to ships due to the hidden amount below the surface.  Think Titanic!

Glacier and Offspring

As if we need to see more, on our way back pods of Dall’s Porpoise rush around our boat chasing fish to eat.  At another location they just follow our boat surfacing and diving so we can get a great view of them.  Also below the bow can be seen Moon Jelly Fish.  They are opalescent to clear in color and are gracefully floating up and down.

All in all a magnificent day.  Even the crew agreed that we are one lucky bunch to witness all we did out in nature today.  They give the day a 10 and so do we!!!

Tired, but exhilarated at the same time we head to dinner at Ray’s for Halibut (freshly caught) and scallops and then to our spot on the bay for a good night’s rest.

Tomorrow will be spent driving to Homer.

Much Love To You All,

Mom/Grandma Syrup/Sara