July 27 Day 71 Valdez, AK
We had another beautiful day--somewhat overcast, but that should make the glacial blue on the glaciers even more beautiful.
Getting to see spectacular sights is the biggest benefit of traveling. The downside to that is that we're not as easily impressed, and things that used to "WOW!" us, no longer do because we've seen so much better. We/ve been on 10 Alaskan marine cruises. When Dean asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I said, "Nothing. Please save the money and use it to buy another marine cruise in Alaska." On our two trips to Alaska, we've been on 10 marine cruises. The 9-hour Stan Stephens cruise that we went on 2 days ago was probably our #1 favorite. Today's cruise was disappointing, and decidedly in last place. However, it did have a few special moments. The Chinese family who we spoke with were thrilled because they saw things they'd never seen before.
The boat for the Stan Stephens Columbia Glacier 6.5 hour trip was smaller than the 9-hour Mears Glacier boat, which was important only because of the decreased rail space outside, and the boat was full. There was a large Korean tour group and probably a lot of people like us who didn't go yesterday because of the rain. The large number of people, my short height, and my lack of speed and mobility, meant that I didn't see much, unless it was on my side of the boat. There were very few sightings, and most of the day was pretty boring.. Nevertheless, Dean got good pictures of what was out there because he has had enough experiences to anticipate and get to a good spot. He watches where the captain is looking as soon as he hears the boat start to slow down, and he goes to a place where he will be able to get his pictures. He's still almost 6' tall, so he also has a height advantage.
Our first sighting was about 30 minutes out, when the captain announced there were a few otters, but they quickly dove under the water. (Picture 1)
Then the captain spotted a mated pair of bald eagles (Picture 2). One flew off, but returned to his mate (Picture 3). In Picture 3, is his wife giving him a piece of her mind for leaving her when that ship came close? She's really worked up in Picture 4. Then, together, they both told us to go away (Picture 5) In Picture 6, peace has returned. Dean got to see this play out. I got glimpses between the 2 rows of people in front of me, but didn't see the story until I edited his pictures. A few minutes later, we saw 2 nesting eagles in a tree, but we were quite far away, and a minute later, we saw a single bald eagle.
There were a lot of fishing boats doing "clean up" fishing since it's the end of the pink salmon fishing. All the boats were seiners and had put out a big net in a circle of net, which they then draw closed the bottom, and bring it up. I saw a fishing boat bringing in the "money bag." I've never seen them haul up their catch before, and they did have a net full of salmon.. Dean was unable to get any pictures, despite our captain stopping for a few minutes to allow us to view it.
The captain got word from a boat that earlier there had been orcas, so we went to the spot and waited about ten minutes, but there was no sign of life. However, I got lucky and spotted a humpback whale and her calf and remembered to yell, "One o'clock whale." That's the first time I've ever been the first to see a whale. (Picture 7)
Another half-hour later, we saw a group of juvenile or unsuccessful bachelor sea lions crowded together on a haul-out. The captain said that in 1980, for some unexplained reason, the population of sea otters decreased by 80%. Scientists branded many of them, noting with the brand where they were so they could follow their migratory route. They have been rebounding as of late.
We saw about six horned puffins, and for us this was a first time to see them in the wild. They only stayed around for about 30 seconds and they were pretty far away, but Dean got this great shot. (Picture 9) I saw them with my binoculars, but didn't realized they were horned, not tufted, until I saw his pictures.
Then we were served lunch, which included the following: lemonade or water, a half-filled cup of clam chowder, a bagel, cream cheese, and oreo cookies on a tray, which you had to juggle on your lap. On the other boat, we had a great lunch of chicken alfredo, but more importantly, a table on which to eat. On both trips the crew served the meal and collected the trash afterwards. I can't say enough good things about the crews both times; they were so friendly, considerate, efficient, knowledgeable, and hard-working.
Twenty miles from the Columbia Glacier, there were icebergs. Picture 10 was the most gorgeous glacial blue and had an interesting shape. They usually only last 24 hours because the water melts them.
It took us a very long time of going slow through the icefield to get about 1 mile from Columbia. Meanwhile, we watched as the LuluBelle, a competing company, took their boat along the shoreline right up to the glacier's 10 mile wide face. We had to stop so far away that we couldn't hear any of the groans and pops that glaciers make, and we didn't see any calving, though it probably was occurring. It is giving off 15 tons of ice per day, so I assume that was happening while we were there and even with binoculars, we couldn't see it. The glacier is in "catastrophic retreat," and in the 1990's was giving off 30 TONS of ice per day. It is the first glacier in catastrophic retreat to be studied by scientists because the other glaciers did it 300-500 years ago. It will continue to retreat until it is no longer in the water.
I've reported every sighting we made on the trip. I chose not to report at least three times as many sightings from our 9-hour trip, in addition to those I did write about. I love the Stan Stephens company, but even with a coupon, I wouldn't go on this cruise again.
