Visit 3, August 2021
This is a park I will slip into every Alaska itinerary I can! It never disappoints on wildlife sightings! You also can’t beat the stunning scenery of the amazing coastal town of Seward. We arrived later in the day, but still enjoyed dinner and some drinks down near the water.
It wouldn’t be a good trip out of the Seward harbor without a sighting of the guardians!
A lot of these pictures will look familiar because they take us to some of the same scenic spots. I still love this shot!
Aialik Glacier! We saw a TON of calving while we were there! It was insane.
Maybe one of my better shots of a puffin as he shakes water off of himself. Love these birds!
A raft of otters! That is what they call it when they all gang together like this to float around. Its pretty adorable.
We got to see some orca again this year!!
We even had a baby who enjoyed showing off again. He breached several times, and I got some great images of his belly as he flew through the air. I just imagine his parents shaking their heads at his antics.
Wouldn’t be a trip into Resurrection Bay without some stellar sea lions!
Here is a VERY short (and poorly captured) video – inserted only so you can all hear what they sounded like! So loud even from our distance on the boat.
This poor guy had a fishing net trapped on his neck! The captain reported it to the Seward Sea Life Center. He said they have teams who will come out and catch the animal, remove the net, then release him again! Hope they made it out there.
Our last wildlife sighting of the day was a humpback whale! Last time I saw one of these whales I was down in Glacier Bay!
Our adventure ended with dinner on Fox Island. Since I usually come to Alaska a few weeks later, I had never gotten to add this option on the end. It was a beautiful area, and the food was excellent! Fun to explore and skip rocks before heading back to Seward.
Visit 2, September 2020
The last park on our trip in 2020, and certainly a great one for wildlife sightings! We made our home base in Seward Alaska, staying at an Air BnB just outside of town. We booked a boat tour on Kenai Tours, so we made our way down to the docks in the early morning.
Today was my younger sister’s birthday so I skyped her while hanging out on the pier. While we were chatting I saw a sea otter come up to the surface, and I got really excited! I told Lydia – my niece – I was going to show her a sea otter. I went running off down the pier but by the time I got down he was gone 😦 After we hung up I decided to keep searching for it as a I could still send her a picture at least. I was walking out on a small finger pier when this huge beast seen below came bursting up out of the water! I honestly almost fell in I was so startled. Seems my hunt for the otter was interrupting his breakfast!
I did finally find the Sea Otter though! I took a few pictures then attempted to skype my sister again. I forgot to turn off the ringing noise, and the otter was apparently not fun of Skype’s ring tone…he dove down as soon as he heard it. Sorry Lydia!! Here are some pictures as a consolation!
Next up we boarded our boat bound for adventure! And the Aialik Glacier. Our captain told us shortly after leaving the dock that the sea conditions were calmer than hes seen in a long time. This meant we got to travel out further than any other tours in search of wildlife!
We caught a glimpse of this majestic bird on our way out of port. The captain said they call him the guardian of Seward, because he can often be found perched here, overlooking the harbor.
The next big wildlife sighing was Dall Porpoise. They are extremely fast and often hard to photograph. Here are some of the best shots I got!
This next wildlife sighing was a first for me!! I’ve seen many types of whale (Beluga, gray and humpback) but never before Orca! There were some larger ones off in the distance but this was a mama and her baby!! Enjoy some of the shots I captured below.
After marveling in the experience of seeing killer whales for the first time, the boat continued on to see some Stellar Sea Lions. You would not BELIEVE the noise coming from these rocks after they spotted us. Or perhaps if you’ve seen these things in action you know exactly what I am referring to!
Little baby about to jump in the water!
I kind of like this one. I imagine them both screaming at each other. Carl! Duke! We have to get out of here!! Then there is the one who is just done still sleeping on the rock.
This guy couldn’t decide if he had to jump as we were moving away. He was very close, then changed his mind as we got further out. I can’t imagine how much effort it takes these things to get up on the rocks, so its not an easy sacrifice to jump back down in the water!
Our driver took us super close in to this arch so we got some amazing pictures. He was far more comfortable with his boat positioning than any of the rest of us!
Love this one!!
Kelp forests – I’ve seen these in California too!! When sea kayaking off the coast of the channel islands we would hang on to these anchors while our guide explained our cave entering protocols.
Our next wildlife sighing was a big black bear. He was clearly eating well this summer! Looked very healthy. He was off on the cliffs as we were approaching the glacier.
And here is it – The Aialik Glacier. Honestly its impossible to provide good perspective on how HUGE this thing is without being there in person. There was a small fishing boat that got super close… after a huge calving a wave formed and came towards us. After that the boat did not venture so close anymore.
I didn’t get a clear picture of the ice falling – but you can see in this image and the nest the remaining ice dust and the wave that came and rocked our big boat afterwards!
These guys seems to be enjoying a nice relaxing time in the sun. After that big wave rocked the ice, the all slide into the water and left!
Some additional views from the journey through the fjords!
Yet another wildlife sighting – this one by our captain! They must have the best eyes in that cockpit because it took the rest of us several long seconds before we spotted them. A few mountain goats on the cliff side. They watched us the whole time!
I like this next picture because I think it gives some perspective, both to the size of the goat, the size of the mountain cliff AND the tiny size of the ledges they deem worthy of walking on!
Once our tour was over, Mary and I sat in the cabin, thawing out our hands and faces. Also removing all the tangles from our hair – it was windy out there!! But this tour had one more wildlife sighing in store as we saw this little otter family running to the water from the docks!
I will add a FULL disclaimer here – the next images were all taken at the Alaska SeaLife Center!! Not in the wild. But even still there are some cool shots in here!!
I imagine this is how I look when relaxing after a long day 🙂
Just a casual waterfall near the town!
Next stop was the hike to exit Glacier. I did this same hike with Marybeth 4 years prior – crazy how time flies. I can’t say that I noticed a significant loss of ice mass, but the signs along the path certainly indicated a big change!!
The trails did seem different, it seemed this time we were not able to get quite as close to the glacier as we did before. No matter – we had gone hiking on a glacier just a few days prior. We were happy to observe from afar.
This park was an adventure yet again – surprising me in the diversity and quantity of wildlife sightings and beauty! The weather was perfect yet again for our travels, and I have no complaints. Alaska amazes me at every turn, and this park was no exception. I imagine Seward might turn into a must visit town each time I come back!!
Visit 1 – 2016
This trip was absolutely amazing! I saw so much wildlife!! I would highly recommend taking one of these day cruises. Prepare yourself for some awesome pictures.
We started out by camping in Seward. Our campsite was really close to the water. Loved the view of the mountains in the background
We first hit up the wildlife preserve, and I got to take some amazing pictures of puffins! These birds are amazing. They have the densest bone mass of any bird. They fly for short distances, and they can dive hundreds of feet below the surface! They look so majestic when they dive – like they should have been fish but got wings by accident.
Its sort of hard to see but I got to see the sign for mile 0 of the Iditarod trail. We also drove over to Exit Glacier and got to see this massive glacier up close! You can see some people over to the right for scale. This glacier has been shrinking and even still it was impressive to see.
While eating the best fish and chips I had ever had (halibut caught that day!), we were interrupted by something happening out by the dock. We all crowded over by the window to see what we later learned was a 250 lb halibut! It was certainly the biggest fish I had ever seen.
Day 2 was the cruise I had been waiting for! It was everything I hoped. Our first wildlife sighting was a bald eagle. The huge boat was suddenly thrown into reverse and everyone crowded over to one side. Despite my excitement at the beginning of the trip, I had now seen more than 20 bald eagles, so I certainly wasn’t as thrilled as before but I snapped a picture anyway!
Next wildlife sitting was even more exciting! A huge group of sea lions! That massive one even looked like it had a big old bite out of its back. Got a sweet action shot when they all decided to jump down off the rock and into the water.
We got to see a bunch of glaciers in the fjords. It was cool to see how they were continuing to change. Another fast stop of the cruise ship and we all ran over to see a pod of Dall porpoises. The tour guide told me not to bother taking pictures because they are too fast. I sure showed him though, check out the two pictures I got! I may or may not have been using sport mode and had to delete about 100 with nothing but water. Still a success!
Up next I have a picture that looks like nothing – but it means a whole lot to me. It was my first sighing of a humpback whale. I swear that I saw it surface here seconds before I was able to get my camera up. I will probably always doubt it since I don’t have a picture to prove….but that just means I will have to go back and see one again!
Here are some other pictures I took in the fjords. I LOVE these, they are some of my favorite. The color of the water is just perfect.
We got back and I was pretty cold from being out on top of the boat in the wind and rain for like 4 hours, but I was also stunned from everything that we got to see. I would go again in an instant! I still have 6 more parks to see in Alaska, and based on the first two I am anxious to go back.
Kelsey's Climb to 59 (+4) 