July 12, 2009

July 12, 2009

Except for a thin section near Exit Glacier, most of Kenai Fiords National Park is inaccessible. The interior consists primarily of the vast Harding Ice Field. The coastline is a series of steep narrow glacier-carved sea inlets or fiords. To see more of the park Aimee and I sign up for a full day cruise. We chose the tour company using a catamaran-hulled ship, which was advertised as being speedier and less rocky.

Our ship sails south down the long bay of Seward, AK. During the transit the ship’s staff serves a delicious lunch of locally caught and smoked salmon. Before I can finish lunch, humpback whales are spotted. After wolfing down the last pieces of salmon, we rush back to the deck to see three whales cruising by. At one point they are so close they pass right under the boat. A little further on a pod of Dall Porpoises play tag with the boat darting in and out. The porpoises are black and white and look like miniature Killer Whales.

Eventually we get to the end of the point and we make a hard right turn and head up one of the fiords. At the northern end we see Holgate glacier flowing into the sea. Exit glacier, from yesterday, flowed out into a valley floor. The one today is known as a tidewater glacier because it flows into the ocean. Tidewater glaciers are interesting because their toes are not supported by land so they calve large chunks of ice as they flow into the sea. The glacier ice cracks like the sound of a gun.

After watching the glacier for a half hour we start our return journey. We view lots of sea lions and several otters. We pass several bird rookeries where we see millions of sea gulls nesting, a few cormorants, and quite a few puffins with bright orange beaks. Oddly the best Bald Eagle view was back in the boat harbor atop a light pole. Before making it back to the dock we get serenaded again by the fun-loving porpoises and we watch a humpback leap out of the water (called breaching) several times in a row.

By the time we are back, Aimee and I are both chilled to the bone. I am glad Aimee decided she needed to knit both of us a stocking cap on the drive thru the Yukon. They were a necessity today! Now if I could only get her to knit gloves.