They took us around Resurrection Bay, around the Aialik Peninsula, passed by the Harris Peninsula, stopped at Fox Island for a tasty buffet dinner, and then dropped us off back in Seward. It was an amazing tour, so yes, I took a ton of pictures (something along the lines of 265...), but I will spare you and try and limit myself. (If you can't tell by now, yes, I love my pictures. Even if I am too lazy to type, there will always be pictures.)
It was an overcast and ridiculously foggy morning. We were a little bummed, since it meant that we probably couldn't see as much scenery as we would have preferred. Also, it makes it ridiculously cold.
Pre-boarding the Alaskan Explorer!! *insert dramatic music here*
One of the first things we see is the cutest sea otter playing around in the water.
Big fat torpedo of a seal.
Mike really enjoying his hot tea (hey, it was cold).
Brother!
Fighting (playing?) sea lions!
Lazy sea lions...
Lots of sea gulls!
Wild puffins!! :D
Fog.
Seagulls on a little ice cube.
Jay at the helm.
We came upon the glacier!
We watched the glacier crash into the ocean! It was so amazing... you start hearing a really loud cracking sound that reverberates in the air, and suddenly, you'll see a huge chunk of ice come crashing down into the ocean with a rumbling thunder-like roar. Very awesome.
Just me 'n a glacier. :)
Mike holding a piece of the glacier!
T'was a cold piece of ice.
Scenery
We saw a whale!
Okay, kind of. There really wasn't much whale-watching going on. Lots of whale-looking, though. We saw probably 2 or 3 whales, and none of them very close. Alas, this is the only picture that you can kind of tell that we saw a whale. It's there! I swear! Look a little closer. It's just the dorsal fin going up a little. Very unsatisfying, I know.
So many sea gulls! And baby sea gulls that blend into the rock really well.
Really awesome rock formations.
So many sea lions! You can watch a live video feed of these sea lions on TV when you're channel surfing in Alaska. ...To be honest, it gets kind of boring to watch...
Although we didn't have many whales, we did have porpoises!! They were so much fun, and they kept on playing at the front of the boat. The tour guides told us to cheer them on, so a group of us were at the front of the boat with our cameras whistling, cheering, and yelling. Apparently porpoises really love it. They stayed with the boat for so long--up to at least 30 knots (~35 mph), if I remember correctly.
Then we stopped by Fox Island for a grilled salmon buffet dinner.
My brother really really liked the croutons, apparently.
Apparently Fox Island is also known for its skipping stones beach, as most of the rocks on the beach are flat and very skip-able. We skipped a few after dinner.
And that was that.
Things that we saw that I was not able to get pictures of: a school of sea otters playing in the water, bald eagle in a sea of sea gulls upon entering the harbor.
Tomorrow is ice climbing!!
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