Our last full day we had a Kenai National Park tour planned which included looking for sea wildlife and whales in Resurrection Bay and then sailing into the Gulf of Alaska to the fjord containing the Aialik Glacier. We had high hopes of seeing whales, seals, otters and touring through the bird rookeries in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge to view several varieties of birds including puffins.
If I learned one thing about Alaska, don’t go on tours in the morning; wait until the afternoon for the best possible weather. We scheduled for the 11:30 cruise and arrived with coats, rain slickers, hats, gloves and camera equipment in hand.
True to form, the weather was overcast and cold in the morning, but shortly after leaving the sky opened up and we had beautiful weather.
We had heard that once you crossed from the protection of Resurrection Bay into the Gulf of Alaska, the waters were very rough. Prior to the trip almost everyone we met who had been mentioned seasickness and told us to make sure we took Dramamine. You don’t have to tell me twice! Tony, Crissy and I started taking the non-drowsy Dramamine the night before and by the time I got on the boat, I could have cared less about whales, I just needed a nap! So much for the non-drowsy formula. However, the sea air, blue skies and the first sighting of a whale put me back in gear, get out that camera!
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| Orca breaking the water with two others beneath. You can just see the white of their bellies thru the water. |
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| Whales and Puffins |
As it turned out, the Captain of the boat told us that it was one of the smoothest days on the ocean that she had experienced. That was a good thing!
During the tour we saw lots of sea animals up close.
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| Nesting Seagulls and chicks |
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