July 22nd:
no miles: Kenai Fjords!
(Joseph)
Today was a long day. We were up early and within minutes, out
the door for a two hour drive to Seward Alaska. Although it was raining
pretty hard, we had a lot of enthusiasm for our day ahead of us. We planned
on doing a Glacier and marine life tour in Resurrection Bay. As we stood
in line to confirm our reservations, we heard silent murmmering of our
cruise being canceled. As it turned out the full day cruise got cut to
a half day because of High Seas. This didn’t disrupt my anticipation
for seeing Killer Whales or the famous Puffins of Alaska.
The
ship set off for a half day, very rainy and rough adventure. We ended
up seeing Stellar Sea lions, Horned and Tufted Puffins, and Sea Otters.
Some interesting birds that we encountered were the Merletes. I discovered
that they can fly a hundred miles an hour and nest up to forty miles away
from the sea in old-growth spruce forest. By day they dive up to 590 feet
only to pick up and fly to their homes far away in the forest.
Unfortunately we didn’t get to see the Orcas but we learned of an interesting whale that had been spotted in the area. Apparently it was a cross between a humback and a Northern Right Whale. Now Northern Right Whales are probably the rarest whale in this whole area. No one has seen them. I think genetic studies are underway to confirm this hypothesis. Hopefully Rob and I will be able to get out into Resurrection Bay again.
