Sacred Waters Of Kenai Fjords

A fair bit of time has past since my last post, mostly I have been busy working, then on my time off I go out on the boats and have not been pouring much energy into writing lately. As much as I enjoy it, sometimes I just prefer to be still and reflect.

My summer here in Seward is slowly coming to a close and I am taking full advantage of my time off and just enjoying the beautiful surroundings. The ocean here is teeming with so many wonderful things, and the diversity of life is incredible that I just want to jump in and embrace every moment of my time off. Yesterday could not of been a more amazing day out on the waters. The day began with two Sea Otters lazily floating around in the bay enjoying their feast of some tasty crustacean. I adore these guys and the fact they have bounced back from near extinction here in Alaska is remarkable. During the days of Russian Influence, the fur traders literally took thousands and nobody thought they would recover from this. Yet they have and that is something we need to be grateful for. As we headed out further into the bay and then into the chilly waters of the Gulf of Alaska we encountered a group of Dalls Porpoise, the smaller black and white cousins to our larger friends the Orca. Dalls are very social Porpoises and they often just love to ride the bows of boats. This group however was in feeding mode so we decided to leave them alone. Soon after that on the Northern side of Cheval Island one of the islands near the entrance to Aialik Bay we spotted a Mother Humpback Cow and her Calf. We stayed with them for quite awhile while they fed and stayed closed to the surface. The Echo from their blows was mesmerizing and I just enjoyed listening to them. After we left the Humpbacks and continued our journey towards Granite Pass and Harris Bay, we spotted a pod of Orcas on the outside of Cheval Island. Mostly they were porpoising which is a funny term considering they are the largest member of the Dolphin family and not a porpoise, yet that is the term that is used when they are only jumping out of the water a bit and traveling. I was excited when I spotted a newborn calf which still showed it's fetal fode and the orangie color of his/her blubber indicating it was a newborn. The calf actually was quite exuberant and did a breach for us leaping out of the water. I quietly observed and opted out of any attempted photographing. They are just to difficult to photograph anyway. We stayed with the Orcas for quite some time,yet we still had to make into Harris Bay to get to the Northwest Glacier before lunch which we did successfully. When we arrived at the glacier we encountered more ice than I have seen all summer so obviously the glacier had been quite active during the night yet it still put on a show for us and did some big time calving. After our stay we continued on into Cataract Cove which is a popular spot teeming with several waterfalls and an abundance of Lion's Head jellyfish in the water. The waterfalls are so refreshing to stay with for awhile and just stare at the beauty which we did. All in all the day was truly spectacular so far and continued to be that way throughout the afternoon.

After lunch and our time with the glacier we headed west and into the Chiswell Islands. These islands are not part of the Kenai Fjords National Park, yet are part of the Alaskan Maritime Wildlife Refuge. A heaven for many pelagic seabirds and also the location of a Steller Sea Lion rookery. Today the air at Big Hive Island was extremely active with Puffins everywhere. I have never seen so many flying and looking like little bees in the sky with their stubby wings, hence the name Hive Island. Today we were able to spot also some of the Kittiwakes Chicks and a few Horned Puffins in their little cliff burrows who more shy than their tufted puffin cousins. I feel pretty blessed to be able to go out on our boats regularly to be able to see this. After spending some quality time with our winged friends, we continued our journey towards home via the Gulf of Alaska. We were lucky for a relatively calm day on the seas so it made it easy for viewing today. Not too long after we left the Chiswells I noticed some very tall spouts coming out in the distance. Could it be for the second lucky week in a row the Second Largest animal on the planet, the Fin Whale. The Captain headed in their direction, yet Fin whales are definitely a challenge to watch, it is more like Whale Waiting and you need patience. Fin Whale down time can be up to 45 minutes so we didn't hold our breath (no pun intended) for a closer viewing. However, we got lucky and soon after that we noticed a Mother and Calf right next to us. Wow so incredibly huge it was a very special sighting for all and I am happy everyone got to see that. The day just couldn't of been better. I have had two weeks in a row with some amazing time out there and feel very lucky. Anyway, I will do my best to be more up to date with postings, only a month and half more to go and I will let you know what is next when it gets closer. Stayed tune for more to come form South Central Alaska.

Lady Ice, a revisit to the Northwest Fjord

By now I am sure everyone knows one of my favorite things to do on my time off is go out on one of our Wildlife Cruise trips. Last week I revisited my favorite place in the Kenai Fjords, The Northwest Glacier. The trip takes you 150 miles round trip from Seward out Resurrection Bay into the gulf of Alaska, around the Cape Aialik to granite Pass and Harris Bay. This area is one of amazing beauty, carved out by glaciers millions of years ago you feel yourself stepping onto another planet at times. All of the glaciers in Kenai Fjords descend down from the Harding Icefield, one of the largest icefields in the world, since I do not yet have a photo of the icefield I will have to find one that really shows the vast somewhat endless and immense stretch of ice anywhere.

Once again, captain Bob was at the helm and I really enjoy his trips. His narration is easy to understand and he is really passionate about what he does. We were also very lucky to encounter an incredibly calm day on the water, I barely even realized we had gone around the cape, which has a conversion and the water can go off in many different directions. Today however it was like glass. One of the sweet features of this area is that there are multiple tidewater glaciers in the fjord. Unlike the other trips which go to one glacier, usually the Aialik, the largest one in the park. Here you have several, and also hanging glaciers which appear to cling to dear life over the tops of the cliffs. At the entrance to the Northwest Glacier, Harbor Seals spend their summer here hauled out with their pups on icebergs. Here they are free from danger and predators do not come up this channel due to lack of other food source. So, they are very shy of boats and usually dive into the water if they sense you are too close. I still managed to capture a couple of photos that were decent. We spent time observing the glacier calve a bit, then we headed out to do some more exploring. We pulled up into Cataract Cove which has an amazing amount of waterfalls that cascade down the cliffs like something out of a fairy tale novel. Bob did a Pierette or 360 so everyone had their video settings on their cameras so we could get a panorama, he also did this at the glacier. It was very magical the whole experience.

By now the sun was really beginning to reveal itself and the day was gorgeous. We still had a few hours to go, so with the calm seas we headed out to the Chiswell Islands which are part of the Alaska Maritime Wildlife Refuge. Here Pelagic Birds number over the thousands, and my little black and white friends, the puffins were everywhere.
After our tour around the Islands, we went a bit further out and to our amazement we spotted a group of several Fin Whales spread out on the east side of the islands. My first time seeing these amazing giants, the second largest mammal on this earth. Wow what an experience. They are not fond of boats and are much shyer than Humpbacks, so mostly you see them spouting, however as we spent several minutes in the area hoping for a closer look they seemed to be spreading out more. Also, they move very quickly and be gone quicker than the eye can spot them. We were about to give up, when suddenly one popped up pretty close to the boat, that was a thrill and I captured a pretty good photo. Anyway, the day really did turn out amazing and now with our weather turning to drippy droppy everyday, I feel pretty lucky that we had such awesome weather. So another amazing day on the chilly waters of Kenai fjords is memorable. Photo of harding icefield borrowed from stock photo online.. all other photos are mine...

Orcas Alaska Style

Golden sunny skies woke me this morning and even though my eyes were still clouded in sleep dust, I bounced out of bed so I could go and standby and hopefully get on our Captain's Choice tour this morning. The Captain's Choice is our posh tour. The boat caps out at 16 pax unlike our single haul and cat's which cap @ 138. The trip is tailored for those with a strong interest in photography and bird watching, up close and personal. The bigger boats get crowded and when there is a sighting everyone excitedly crowds everyone else in hopes of that perfect shot. Anyway, I was very excited when I got on and I knew it was going to be a fabulous and magnificent day on the high waters of South Central Alaska. Captain Dan O who is also our Orca Id guy met everyone and took us down the M/V Misty where would spend the day gallivanting around chasing tails and feathers around Kenai fjords. It didn't hurt that the day was golden sunny and it appeared that the seas were calm, at least for now. Once we untied we were on our merry way in hopes of spotting those black and white friends of mine that call this their home. Actually today was literally a black and white day when I think about it. Not long after we began our venture out, another boat had spotted a Humpback. Lately the humpbacks have been further out, not so much in Resurrection Bay. This Humpback wasn't very active and we didn't get the opportunity to view it's fluke. Humpbacks can be Id's by their fluke and all the Humpbacks here in Alaska have been identified. Most of the resident Orcas as well have been id'd, yet there are more here than in the San Juan Islands, so recognizing them can be a challenging task.

Not long after that we got a report from another boat that there was a pod of Orcas. Lo and behold it was the AK6's one of the more commony sighted pods in the area. This family has gone through a lot of changes apparently, however due to the excellent ID knowledge of Captain Dan O we knew exactly whom we were viewing. There was the big Male Eldorado, and his Mom Cheval... also followed by another male whose Dorsal fin is seen in my photo here named Hive.... funny he doesn't exactly look like a bee... they traveled with us for quite awhile and there was a lot of fun activity as you can view in my short video I took. Also, Dan put the hydrophone into the water so we could listen to them. It really was joyful and brought tears to my eyes. This was a great start to an absolutely amazing day ahead. As we headed out of Rez Bay as I call and about to get closer to the Aialik Cape we spotted another group. This time we were seeing the AD8's.. also pretty awesome. AD22 known as Skana was showing some signs of maybe a possible dance out of the water, yet we were pretty happy to just be with them.
Once we went around the cape we entered Aialik Bay en route to the largest tidewater glacier in the park, The Aialik glacier. Before getting closer to the glacier, another group was spotted, although Dan did not know these whales and since they were resting we kept our distance even more and continued to the glacier. Dan climbed on top of the boat to spot a good navigational route through the ice, I am sure a challenging venture, yet he did a fabulous job and we made our way within a quarter of a mile. Observing the glacier and a few thunders later we viewed some calving. This was also our lunch spot and to quietly observe the Mother Harbor Seals and pups hauled out on icebergs. The day could of not been better. We lucked out with great weather, lots of Orcas and two pods of Dalls Porpoise who rode our wake for quite awhile. A simply fantabulous adventure. I feel such gratitude to have all these opportunities to see this vision of beauty all around me.

The day continued it's course of outstanding weather, we had sunny skies the entire day, however we did run into some choppy water. Even though the sun was golden and nicely warm, the wind began to kick up so we had some chops.. Not to worry it only last 20 minutes or so, then you are back in a bay where it is protected. The Captain's Choice tour tends to attract people who are Bird Watchers and or Pro or almost Pro photographers. We had some French people on board who really wanted to see Pelagic Birds, and believe me there were more than enough Puffins for everyone. It was awesome as usual with all of them flying low or swimming gracefully in the water. After a full day, the tour is nine hours long, the boat was beginning to rock me to sleep, and I kept catching myself nodding off and almost falling off my seat. Thankfully this was on our way back in, and most of our sightings had been earlier in the day. All I can say is Awesome, Amazing, Incredible and stupendous.... can't really describe it.

Today was mellow, just hung out in town and then went to a Sales Workshop which I was paid overtime for. I am glad I did the trip yesterday since today seem to really be one of downtime. So stay tuned for further adventures and reports of my glorious adventures.

Don't forget to watch the video, I took this early in the day, and Captain Dan O had just dropped the hydrophone in the water to listen to the Orcas. Awesome and amazing it was.... brought tears to my wee eyes......