Another day in Seward--July 14

For the lousy, rainy weather we had coming here today turned out beautiful just like at Denali. It was a great day to be out on the water. We began our day by carpooling downtown to the Alaska Sea Life Center which is more of a research and rehabilitation center than it is an aquarium although it is that also. They broke us into small groups of about 8 and while one group took a tour of the innards of how it all works and what they do the others looked at and read the information and viewed the sea life--both mammal and birds. The inside scoop showed us how they monitor stellar sea lions out in their own habitat where they have their pups by using video cameras. If they have not been branded which many are not they tell them apart by their scars or fungus growth on them. Their numbers are declining so they are trying to figure out why and how to stop it. As Alaskans are going about their lives if they come upon a stranded or injured sea animal they will contact the Center and the Center will go out anywhere in the state to check it out and if necessary bring it back for rehabilitation. If sea otters or walrus are brought in they cannot be returned to the wild because they tend to imprint on humans and this could be harmful to them or us so they are sent to qualified zoos once they are ok. We had the opportunity to see up close a 40 day old sea otter. She was handling him in her arms and he was just moving around and playing. He had this beautiful coat of fur. He was adorable. They also showed us how they bring freshwater and sea water into the Center and then how they filter and purify it before it is returned to Resurrection Bay.

Then we went to look at the displays and the aquarium and read the informative material. We definitely could have spent more time there. We saw a couple of harbor seals swimming and the best part for me was the sea bird aviary. We had the opportunity to see up close many of the birds we would see later on the boat tour so it made it much easier to identify them and you usually don't get to spend as much time looking at them in the wild.

A school bus then took us over to the docks where we would catch our tour boat "The Star of the Northwest". There were 3 decks--two enclosed and then the top open deck. Very soon after we pulled out of port they served us a buffet lunch of salmon and roast beef, rice with black beans, salad and sourdough bread and drink (non-alcoholic). Later dessert was chocolate brownie with icing, cheesecake, jello, fruit and carrot cake. It was a nice meal but all I wanted was to get out on deck and look for birds and whatever else I could see. We had a naturalist and a National Park Ranger on board doing narration which was really nice. She was also helping to spot whatever showed up but so was everyone else. We were travelling thru Kenai Fjords National Park. The first thing I saw was a Pelagic Cormorant followed by the Common Murre and at some point we began seeing Horned and Tufted Puffins--they are adorable. They look like little torpedoes with their wings flapping so quickly and their bright colors. We saw Glaucuous Gulls and quite a few Bald Eagles. There were some rock faces which were rookeries for the Red Legged Kittiwake and also another that was a rookery for the Puffins. The Captain would pull up close to these areas and cut off the engine so we could get a real good look. We also saw the sea otters out in the water just laying on their backs with their feet up in the air. You just want to cuddle these guys they are so cute. There were a couple of big rocks that the Stellar Sea Lions were sun bathing or sleeping on. We had real good looks at them also. The very best sighting was a Humpback Whale. Boy were the cameras busy then. He did a couple of jumps and showed his tail a couple of time but he waved to us with his flippers a lot. Later we were visited by about 3 porpoise but they didn't do much jumping. That was about it for the sea life, I think.

The Ranger told us about the history of Resurrection Bay and Seward, about Godwin Glacier and Harding Icefield which is named after President Harding, about the Eldorado Narrows which is a moraine, about the 1964 earthquake and the tsunami which hit Seward and about the fact that in the movie Red October near the beginning of it filming was done in the Bay.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable day. We drove out to Exit Glacier but decided not to walk us to it but I think I will go tomorrow (which is a free day for some of us) and go up with the ranger ( and take lots of mosquito repellant). There is also Nash Rd. to drive down which is supposed to be where a lot of people fish and the eagles can be numerous. I forgot that when we were coming back into port we saw the immature bald eagle again. Dee and Marvin are going out on a fishing tour to fish for halibut or salmon, I can't remember which. That's all for tonight.