Seward: Part 3

The last full day I had in Seward I did a boat tour. I initially didn’t book this tour, but the people in my hostel really recommended it. The day prior I tried to see if there were any tickets left but had no luck. They told me that I could come by in the morning and ask if there were any no shows. Fortunately, there was a spot.

There are three lengths of boat ride: three-, six-, or nine-hour trips. Each travels around the bay and into the ocean to look at wildlife, nature, and glaciers. I did the six-hour trip. Our boat was named the Aialik, after one of the glaciers. We started off at 11AM.

We cruised through the bay away from Seward and into the ocean. The boat made its way to some small, lush islands to see some animals. The first thing we saw were some bald eagles and their nests. Each time you see them, you forget how large they are. Just before we left the bald eagles, there were some otters floating on their backs to the island. To be as nonchalant and relaxed as an otter looks should be a goal.

After this, we hopped over to another island. On this island there were tons of Harbor Seals sunning on the rocky shore. They were all huge and blubbery, but some were more huge and more blubbery than the rest. Two were competing for a spot on the highest perch. One would arch its head back and open its mouth wide, apparently screaming for control. Eventually they subsided.

Next, we went really far out into the ocean where some other boats were stopped. Something interesting must’ve grabbed their attention. Then we saw it, or rather them. Orcas were breaching the surface, each time puffing a fine mist of water into the air, and diving back down to hunt for fish. I don’t how many we saw exactly, but there were quite a few. You could clearly see the large white marks on their faces and the rubbery texture of their skin. Some got extremely close to our boat. It was amazing being able to see them so close. It never got old, and each time they would surface people were awestruck.

After watching the orcas for a while, the boat made its way into an inlet. We stopped just inside the opening of the inlet, between the mountainous, green walls. There were several humpback whales swimming around for food. Humpback whales can hold their breath for quite long time, so you would try to predict where they would breach next. I think that there were two swimming at this point, though it’s hard to tell.

At this point, I was getting a little cold and tired. The boat did have a drink and snack bar. I got a hot chocolate. We started making our way to the Aialik Glacier. As we got closer, it became hard to take our eyes off of it. We saw the icy blue wall grow larger and larger eventually stopping parallel to it. There were chunks of its ice floating in the bay. I think I saw some sea lions swimming around, but it’s hard to tell if they were sea lions or seals when only their heads poked out of the water. The glacier was amazing to look at, but more impressive was the cracking and sound of the glacier.

Periodically, chunks of ice would fall off the glacier and hit the water. We would see the pieces fall and hit the water first. Then came the sound. It was like a small explosion going off. You hoped to catch a piece just before it hit the ground to see how much ice causes that sound, but you had to be lucky. We never did see any large pieces fall off, but we saw many moderately sized pieces. One could only imagine how loud it would be if a large piece came off. But, with each falling piece, a stark reminder of how far the glacier has receded in just a few years is placed into your mind. Some of the glaciers no longer exist unfortunately.

After that we started heading back. I stayed outside for most of the trip, and, because it was slightly cold and a little bit rainy, I was wiped. I sat at a table inside with this couple that I was talking to earlier. They were from San Francisco and Jacksonville, FL. Soon after, the staff brought us all some chocolate chip cookies. I remember dozing off for a little bit. But who couldn’t, with the sway of the water and all?