7/25: To Kenai Fjords by Boat

Sunday July 25, Nine Hours on a Boat: We got going early for a 9 hour boat trip to Northwestern Lagoon. Northwestern Lagoon and the tidewater glacier at its end are part of Kenai Fjords National Park and only accessible by boat. This day ranked up there with our day on the bus in Denali for an unforgettable experience! Perhaps, like our boat’s captain said, marine life likes cloudy, rainy days when the big hot ball in the sky isn’t out. We saw stuff I never dreamed I’d see in person. There were Stellar sea lions lazing on the rocks of small islands and there were groups of orca swimming and diving close to shore. Puffins were all over. They seem to prefer swimming to flying and reluctantly took to partial flight to move away from us by beating their wings quickly along the water rather than the air. It seemed like an inefficient way to travel, but they moved fast!

I was standing out close to the bow, all bundled up against the freezing drizzle when I saw the familiar water spout of a humpback surfacing close to shore. I stood waiting for him to resurface, but the captain had seen him too, and brought the boat around much closer. The young male breached, and breached again, much to our thrill! He came up and ½ way out of the water over and over, coming back down sideways and hitting the surface so hard, he made huge splashes. Wow! I couldn’t believe it!

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, it did. After 4 hours under way, we slowly approached the Northwestern Glacier. The water was filled with small icebergs, the result of the constant calving (breaking off) of the glacier that towered above us. And a hundred seals were resting on them, their own personal icy rafts. The glacier was so beautiful – an awe inspiring mountain of white and turquoise blue, ringing the shore. Coming back to Seward, most of us dozed and warmed up in the cabin. A group of Dall’s Porpoises swam along the ship’s bow for a few minutes, looking very much like miniature orcas, so muscular and fast in the water. (Photos are in the next posting)