After a leisurely morning, we went back to town for our 5-hour Resurrection Bay Cruise. It was either this tour, or just Tomcat and I kayaking in the bay that evening, and Tomcat thought it would be better for all of us to do something together. I didn’t exactly see it that way, but this trip wasn’t about me so I canceled the prearranged kayak trip, and proceeded to board the boat.
The trip ended up being quite remarkable. We stopped at Fox Island for a salmon barbecue and the ranger held a little ceremony for the kids; they successfully earned another Junior Ranger Badge for Kenai Fjords National Park! Some people stayed the night at the lodge on Fox Island, but after about an hour on the beautiful rocky beach, we got back on the boat to see what we could see, to see what we could see…
Have you ever heard of a Ghost Forest? During the 1964 earthquake, the ground dropped so far below sea level that the trees sucked up a bunch of sea water, which killed them. After the quake and subsequent tsunamis, the earth popped back up with all the trees preserved, dead. So you see these gray forests up and down the coasts. Cool!
We ended up having a full-on whale party. There were more humpback whales than we could count. We’d hang over the rail on the left side and then rush over and hang over the rails on the right side. It was so wonderful for the kids – it’s hard to see a whale spray followed by a deep dive in the distance – but it’s easy to spot a breach, especially when it’s right next to the boat! The mighty whales seem to go in slow motion during a full breach.
We were charmed with multiple whales doing repeated full breaches and delivering encores all around the boat. It was indescribable. I’d say to Doodle, “Keep watching because pretty soon it’s going to ask you for a High Five” and then it’d stick its flipper in the air cooperating perfectly. Truly an extraordinary sight!
We also passed through a cove surrounded by monumental cliffs where an outpouring of gulls clouded our view. There must have been thousands of birds at this rookery. We were close enough to see them nesting in the cracks of the rock and hanging out inside caves! Little Man complained the entire time about the smell -- we had to distract him with focusing on specific birds. Tufted puffins win the prize for being the cutest birds in the air and the water -- hilarious little boogers.
how exciting to see whales! eva and audrey would also LOVE to see a puffin.
ReplyDeleteyour Alaska pics are beautiful!
I love the story of the puffins. I once heard someone describe them as "flying potatoes" because they aren't the most nimble of creatures and they sometimes t-bone people on the decks of boats in the bay because they can't nav around them.
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