So Wednesday was a really fun day!! We got up early and put on all of our layers and rain gear, since it was still in the 40's and raining. We checked in with Major Marine Tours for our 8.5 hour cruise, and while waiting to board we met a very nice couple from Birmingham - shout out to Cindy and Mark! We ended up sitting together all day and had lots of fun conversations. Mark even attended the same high school as Mike (such a small world)!
We set out into Resurrection Bay toward the Gulf of Alaska on the vessel The Viewfinder, with our awesome captain Justin at the helm and our wonderful, knowledgeable crew Carl attending to our needs all day. They both went above and beyond to make sure that we all were able to see what we were most interested in. We stopped many times and they both took the time to explain the geography, geology, and history of what we saw, as well as share knowledge about the animals and birds that we encountered.
then a beautiful bald eagle and a sea otters playing nearby.
We went through Spire Cove, which was so beautiful,
and saw both horned, and tufted puffins,
pelagic cormorants, and lots of other birds. In Agnes Cove we saw our first whale, a big, sleepy humpback that never would lift its fluke completely out of the water for us.
At Cheval Island we saw a big group of harbor seals lounging around on the rocks. They were so funny!
Near Harbor Island we saw Dall's porpoise. As we neared the Chiswell Islands we saw Stellar sea lions,
parakeet auklets and more. Near Matushka Island we saw a couple of Transient Orcas - How cool was that! We stopped and watched them hunting for as long as we could before having to finally move on.
It was very exciting! We continued through the Granite Passage
to the Northwestern Fjord and ended up at the beautiful and huge Northwestern Glacier,
where we spent some time dodging ice, and icebergs
and watching to see the glacier calving.
There were so many harbor seals resting on the floating ice.
As we came back through the other side of the Chiswell Islands, we saw a pair of Orcas to our left, and a pair of humpbacks (a cow and her calf) to our right! We didn't know which way to look! Near No Name Island we saw a bunch of Stellar sea lions again.
It was sad that we had to end our tour and head back to the harbor, but we were so very happy to have experienced this trip!!
Once the adrenaline wore off and the Dramamine drowsiness hit hard, we headed to our free camp spot for the night to the Exit Glacier designated use area. Just a gorgeous place to camp!
This was our cruise itinerary, and Wednesday's journey:
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