But cool & breezy on upper deck of boat behind the cabin, on back end. Had barely gotten out of harbor into ocean and the captain announced, "Sea Otter lying on his back eating a crab". Cool!
Then soon, Humpback Whales in a cooperative feed. Very unusual, he said he has seen it but not often. Must have been 4 of them. Difficult to get pics. Came up & back down.... Got mostly pics of tails or water.
Then Puffins, birds that look like little penguins, high on the sides of cliffs & mountains which stick out of the water. As we left that area, the fog set in. I thought it was all over. We rode along in fog with the Captain sounding the ship horn occasionally to let smaller vessels know we were there. He apparently had radar & could tell when they were not changing course.
We rounded a cape and out of the fog. I could see mountains with glaciers around us. I was snapping pictures of the awesome glaciers, as I could tell we were approaching this one big glacier which went all the way down the mountain and into the water. Aialik Glacier.
The boat slowed becaus the water around us was full of ice. To our left were hundreds of seals who had climbed up on the chunks of ice. The crew brought the boat as close to the glacier as they dared and killed the engine. We sat there in awe and silence shooting our pictures when, all of a sudden a sound rang out and I heard a woman call out. I thought someone had been shot. I looked up and a hunk of ice was falling into the ocean. You could see and hear it falling. Then a loud, plop as it hit the water. The glacier was "calving", a sight I never expected to see. I have seen similar events on TV, but to witness it in person is a breath taking experience.
We lingered there taking it in until another boat arrived and we slowly moved away. As we left, I could see the fog again and I knew we were on a collision course with it. I was just so happy to have had the experience at the glacier, I didn't care if I couldn't see anything on the return trip.
"Killer Whales" off to the right of the ship, came the announcement. "They are coming our way". I could see several with two coming right toward the ship. What a site! I can't remember if I even tried to take a picture. I was so excited. There were six or seven of them in this pod. They would blow water and all of a sudden three or four would surface together. Then, there goes that huge tail into the water. Again, the engines stop as we sit to watch the whales.
When we move again, we head right into the fog. Shortly, we pull in closer to rock formations where we see seals all over the rocks in the ocean and hundreds of birds clinging to the rock walls above.
Again, into the dense fog as we cruise along unable to see anything for an hour. As we approached Fox Island for dinner the fog cleared again. Just off the bow, were several porpoise and whales. It was difficult to tell who was chasing who as they surfaced and dived again and again.
On to the island for dinner and the Captain announced, "When you hear the ship's horn, return to the boat. If you hear it sound twice, run for the boat. If you hear it sound three times, wave goodbye".
Our food was excellent. The best meal we have had on the trip. As we pull back to the harbor, I am amazed at what a day this had been. As perfect as I could have planned. Even the fog seemed to move out of our way at just the right times. On the other hand, I wonder what else that fog may have concealed??
Sent from my iPhone
Wow. Stuff that dreams are made of.
ReplyDelete