Day 40 - Seward, Alaska

Blog – Sunday, July 17, 2011

By:  Jacque and Don Smith, Rig # 19

Seward, Alaska – Day 40

We started our first full day in Seward at the Alaska Sea Life Center which is Alaska’s only public aquarium and cold water research facility. 

The aquarium has a 2,000 pound Stellar Sea Lion, a Harbor Seal (mother and calf) and a dramatic seabird habitat.  It also has numerous small tanks with harbor-level and deep-level fish, salmon and tide-pool exhibits.  Our group was divided into thirds for the “Behind the Scenes” tour which included watching a remote web-cam on a sea lion rookery.  The process of following longitudinally the various sea lions and their off-spring was very interesting.  Additionally, the facility accepts many orphaned and injured mammals each year.  These mammals are restored to health and taught how to fish and survive on their own.  Very few mammals are unable to be returned to the wild.  They have a fully equipped medical facility including surgery, radiology and laboratory. 



Don and Jacque waiting patiently for the bus to arrive

Unfortunately all too soon it was time to leave and board a bus for a quick ride to the harbor for a five-hour Wildlife Cruise with the Major Marine Tours on the Orca Song. 

We enjoyed a great lunch of salmon, prime rib with salad and rice.  Two hours later they had a decadent desert bar with over five different deserts.  Both lunch and desert was “all you can eat” and the food was delicious.  On board, Lani, a Kenai Fjord National Park Ranger provided lots of information on the geology, glaciers and wildlife we saw.  We learned the rounded mountains were a result of the wearing away during the last ice age and the mountains with jagged peaks were taller than the ice and unaffected.  Our first sightings included three mountain goats and a Bald Eagle. 

As we passed through the Eldorado Narrows we observed Kittiwake, Cormorant, Common Murre and Puffin rookeries.  We also saw a Stellar Sea Lion rookery.  Each of these rookeries was very noisy with the cries of the birds and the barking of the Sea Lions.  We also got glimpses of a Dall’s Porpoise, a Humpback whale and an Orca mother and calf. 

There were no children on our cruise so Gilbert Hall earned his “Not so Junior” Junior Ranger Badge by completing all the activities in his Junior Ranger program.  We all joined him in reciting his Junior Ranger pledge with Ranger Lani. 



It started to rain on the cruise back to the harbor and several people stayed inside and played cards.  Word on the bus was Roni Wilcznski had three quarters and lost!  It was still raining when we returned to our RV’s for a quiet evening after a fun-filled day.