Alaska Part 4: Whale Watch

While the guys were off on their quest for monster halibut, Maria, Maryanne, I spent the day on a whale watch with the well known Stan Steven’s Charter Company.  We were fortunate to spend a full day taking in the beautiful scenery of Prince William Sound and observing the wildlife of the Sound.  The day started out a bit rainy and foggy in classic Alaskan form, but cleared up and the sun came out in the afternoon.  Here is a sampling of some of the gorgeous sites we witnessed on our outing.

First in line to get on the boat, just like Scott taught us!

Our first wildlife sighting of the tour, an adult Bald Eagle.

Look at that teal water and fog of the Sound.

All bundled up and looking for wildlife.

The view of Shoup Glacier from the whale watch boat.

A floating iceberg from Shoup Glacier.

Close up of the iceberg.

A fishing boat setting its seine net for Silver Salmon.

The New St. Joseph, the cannery boat that offloads caught fish from full fishing vessels and transports them back to the cannery.

The Kodiak, you may have seen her on The Deadliest Catch.

A juvenile humpback whale, our only whale sighting of the tour!

The fog starting to lift.

 

We got real close to a raft of Sea Otters!

 

They look so comfortable floating on their backs.  Sea Otters sleep floating in the water!

We made sure to take tons of pictures to show the guys what they missed out on.

 

Columbia Glacier from the whale watch boat.

 

Our first view of our destination, the impressive Mears Glacier.

 

Closer view of Mears Glacier, we began to hear the incredible noise that glaciers make creaking and popping as they move, releasing air that was trapped within the ice.

 

 

As we got closer we realized that seals thought the glacier ice was put there for them as a playground!

We saw a group of kayakers paddling through the ice around Mears Glacier.

We saw several pieces of ice calve into the sea from Mears Glacier.

We even got to hold one of the icebergs from Mears Glacier.

 

Once we got out into open water heading back towards Veldez, we saw our first of several pods of Dahl Porpoise.  They are about the size of a dolphin and they love to play in the waves the boat makes.

We also saw many brightly colored Puffins.  We were surprised that they were small, about the size of a dove.

 

A whole bunch of bachelor Sea Lions hanging out.

A second, larger pod of Dahl Porpoises that wanted to play with us!

 

Dahl Porpoise

 

 

View from the back of the whale watch boat as we head back to Valdez Port.

 

The holding tanks for the Alyeska Pipeline, loading site for tanker ships.

What a beautiful day!