After eating a quick breakfast, we drove once again to the Seward harbor to check in for the Northwestern Fjords boat tour. We used the same company, Kenai Fjords tours, for this trip. This time, the boat was much larger, able to hold about 150 passengers. The route was similar to our first trip, except this tour goes farther into the park, all the way to the Northwestern glacier.
I had read that if you want a good seat, you should get in line early on the dock. This turned out to be true, especially since the boat was packed. Luckily, we were able to snag a nice table inside on the top deck. Though we were out on the rails for much of the nine hour trip, it was great to have the option to rest and sit inside when we needed.
The captain on this tour (I wish I could remember his name) was fabulous. It was clear that he had a lot of experience finding and identifying marine animals. Even better, he seemed genuinely interested in finding birds for the few birders on board, to Jared's great delight.
The most exciting part of the tour was a young humpback whale breaching several times around us. It was swimming with its mom, who calmly surfaced every once in a while to breathe. The baby, however, was feeling playful and would burst out of the water every minute or so. This was one of the highlights of our entire Alaska trip.
We also saw several pods of orcas again, this time even closer than before. One large male swam right under our boat.
The Northwestern Glacier was simply beautiful. We watched an ice waterfall flow down the glacier for several minutes.
We also saw several Harbor Seals perched on the chunks of ice.
On the way back to Seward, we stopped in a beautiful alcove with waterfalls all around us.
Our captain also took us by the Chiswell Islands, where we saw more nesting birds and Steller's Sea Lions.
Toward the end of the trip, the captain decided to take us out farther into the open sea, to give us a chance to see additional birds and wildlife. It paid off almost immediately! We saw several Fin whales, which are the second largest species of whale behind the Blue whale. We also saw more birds that Jared was excited about, including a likely Short-tailed Shearwater.
Once we got back to Seward, we decided to briefly check out the Alaska Sea Life Center. They had many fun exhibits, including a marine bird exhibit where you could watch them dive underwater.
After that, we grabbed a quick bite to eat at a local restaurant, the Railway Cantina. The halibut burrito and tacos were excellent.
We wrapped up the day by grabbing our s'mores supplies and hanging out with friends we met on the boat. The guy is an avid birder like Jared, so they had fun spotting together throughout the day.
We were sad that it was our last evening in Seward, but excited for the next half of the trip....
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