Cool Day!

Today was to start when the alarm went off at 6:15 a.m. but I auto-woke at 6 and decided to get an early start. I had been told that the kitchen opened at 7 so I might be able to grab a bite to eat before rushing to the pier for my tour.

I packed everything I could in my bag so that I didn't need to leave anything of value, unwatched, on the bike for 6 hours while I was at sea. As pre-authorized I stashed everything in the TV room adjacent to the front desk, then went to the kitchen where Loresa was already putting food out at 6:45. A delightful gal, she is from Greensboro, N. C. When I remarked that I could tell she was a southern gal by her NASCAR t-shirt she surprised me by saying she had worked for Petty Enterprises for 8 years and knew Richard Petty. If you're not familiar with NASCAR, that's like working for the Chicago Bears and knowing, uh, never mind.

After checking in at Kenai Fjords Tours we boarded the Twaniana with Emma and Captain Mark who, according to several self-proclaimed Cougars on board, was the Fjord Tour voice double for Morgan Freeman. He was informative throughout the entire 6 hour tour. (We were lucky. The three hour tour was narrated by Bob Denver).

The fun started even before we left Resurrection Bay when a humpback whale was spotted Lung-Feeding. 

It was this early encounter that clued me to the fact that capturing an intermittently visible mammal in the act of surfacing at an undisclosed location with a camera that shuts off indiscriminately to save the battery was not going to be easy. Luckily, only about 75% of my pictures contain only water! I did get a picture of a glacier which, luckily for me moves only 3 feet a year!

The tour was primarily promoted as a Glacier Tour but was a well rounded experience affording viewing opportunities of whales, dall's-porpoises (porpie?), sea otters, Stellar Sea Lions, harbor seals, and numerous species of birds.

In fact, on our way out of the harbor, we stopped at Fox Island and picked up a group of birders who had spent the night identifying the local inhabitant Aves. These are not normal people. They eschewed the opportunity to photograph otters off the port side when one of them set off a stampede to starboard by yelling "Rhinoceros Auklet!!!"

We, or maybe I should say they, spotted 12-15 different species from hundreds of yards away. But now I can say I've seen both a Horned and Tufted Puffin!

After spotting several whales we entered open seas on the way around Aialik Cape to see Holgate Glacier up close and watch as it calved and cracked, slid and splashed.

 Captain Mark had lots of good information explaining the retreating of glaciers, sharing information gleaned from Glacioligist that had taken his tours. Touching not only on the effects of global warming but also volcanoes, sun spots and cyclical weather patterns over eons, I felt it to be a well balanced presentation and not "preachy".

I took many pictures which are still uploading (darn hotel WiFi)! As I indicated before, they are proof positive that I will never be a professional photog!

We returned to port at 2 p.m. and I quickly returned to the hotel to load gear on my bike and strike out for Homer, a mere 165 miles and four hours away! By the time my wheels were rolling the clouds had begun to roll also, making the ride a little chilly and, eventually, a little wet (but not wet enough to get my shoes wet)!

I am now checked into my room in Homer. Tomorrow I will investigate the Homer Spit. This should be interesting!