Thursday 22^nd August

Our last major expedition, and Alaska did not disappoint.  The day was overcast and drizzly and fog obscured everything on the water.  The captain of the boat taking us on a cruise of the Kenai Fjords said weather conditions were ideal – no wind, little wave, and we probably would get some breaks in the cloud sometime during the day!  

He was  right – the conditions were ideal for viewing wildlife, and they duly cooperated.  A pod of six orcas (killer whales).  The captain knew them by name – all the captains know all the “residents”, as opposed to the “transients” whom they do not know.  Then a couple of humpbacks, who blew and breached and waved their tales at us.  Seals resting on ice floes “to warm up”.  Sea lions – I counted thirty-eight of them – draped about on a couple of rocks. An apparently shameless sea otter who put on such a performance, but the captain said that is how they spend their day – lolling and grooming themselves and rolling about in the water, then at night they get serious and go hunting.  There were lots of birds in the crevices of the mountain rock rising straight up out of the sea.  The captain had stories about all of them – the murre flies underwater, propels itself to depths up to 650 ft by flapping its wings. It can also still fly in the air, unlike the penguin which has traded its flight capability for underwater mobility.  Birds are fascinating.  I must take more interest in future . 

The murres lay their eggs in the crevices of the rock walls. The hatchlings, expecting to fly like mum and dad, step of the edge and flap their wings, and fall straight down into the water.  They then actually learn to fly underwater before flying in the air. 

The dark shapes are seals resting on the ice floes to warm up.

 Some of the 38 sea lions draped about the rocks.

Human wildlife trying to skip stones on the calm water by Fox Island.

Colourful bird added to plumage by buying a striped Alaskan beanie.

 

There were lots of glaciers, often three or four in view at a time, but we went right to the mouth of the Aialik Glacier – 1.5 miles wide at its entrance into the sea of the fjord.  Majestic and awesome – the sight and sound of hundreds of tons of ice breaking away and dropping into the sea was so powerful.  Like rifle cracks followed by rolls of thunder, then the massive spray of ice falling, falling ….