Continued from the previous page.

RESURRECTION PENINSULA & EMERALD COVE

Here's the map of our route again:

Lush Emerald Cove wasn't on our original agenda but Ryan, our captain, decided to go that way today because the weather was so good, the water was calm enough, and he knew there would be thousands of birds in and near the rocky cliffs.

He chose a sometimes-narrow route with Rugged, Hive, Fox, and some smaller islands on our left (west) and Resurrection Peninsula on our right (east).

Approaching Barwell Island and Cape Resurrection

The captain pointed out two observation towers at the top of this strategic point that were used for surveillance during WWII (and maybe beyond):

Throughout the war barracks, docks, gun placements, and searchlight stations were built on top of headlands and on remote rocky islands in the bay. Remnants like these are still visible today. The strategic command center was built on a bluff on Caines Head, south of Seward.

Ryan also stopped several times along this inner passage to point out various creatures and let us observe their behavior.

This is where I was envious of the folks with much better zoom lenses than we have. The area was teeming with birds but my photos don't show them very well. In the next photo, e.g., there are numerous gulls and murres on the rocks and in the air but close-ups are fuzzy:

The next picture shows common murres, the deepest-diving sea birds that can also fly. They have been found caught in crab pots at depths of 640 feet:

Murres are nesting and flying above the sea lions in this picture:

Murres do not build nests. They live in large, densely populated colonies and lay their eggs in crevices on bare rocks. Pretty precarious, eh?

My favorite Alaskan bird is the puffin. The two shown below are horned puffins:

These birds are very comical when they fly. They resemble large cargo planes that look too big to get off the ground. Once in the water, however, they can "fly" amazingly fast underwater and also dive quite deep (300 feet or more) for a meal. Tufted puffins are in the same family; they have tufts of hair on the back of their heads.

I'm hoping we'll see both kinds of puffins at closer range tomorrow at the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward so I'll have more detailed photos of these unusual birds to show you..

We also saw kittiwakes, cormorants, black oystercatchers, ducks, and other species of birds, as well as several more colonies of Steller sea lions:

 

 

 

 

Lumbering Steller sea lions aren't pretty but they are fun to watch!

A Steller sea lion bull grows to an average length of eight feet and weighs about 1,500 pounds, more than your average bull moose. You can imagine how many fish one of those critters can eat in one day -- up to 120 pounds, according to the Stirring the Senses booklet we got on the tour.

They are an endangered species that live here all year long. Recent surveys indicate their population is increasing. Ryan pointed out some wind- and solar-powered video cameras in the rocks that scientists at the SeaLife Center use to monitor the sea lions:

I also noticed one of the lions with a large number on its side, resembling a steer that's been branded:

Not sure what that's about, as it's the only one I saw when editing the photos. Maybe it's part of the scientific project to monitor the sea lions. Maybe it's a Native Alaskan thing; these mammals are one of the main subsistence food sources for Alutiiq people living in the region.

Emerald Cove is especially green and full of rocky cliffs and niches for wildlife. Ryan stopped there so we could watch more birds as a mountain goat watched us from high on the rocks:

 

 

The eastern coastline of Resurrection Bay along Resurrection Peninsula is idyllic. It's not part of Kenai Fjords National Park but most or all of the wilderness is public land -- and even more inaccessible than the national park across the bay.

There are five state marine parks that can be reached by boat and several cabins that can be rented..

One of Kenai Fjords Tours' shorter excursions stays entirely in Resurrection Bay, which looks like it stretches about 25 miles north to south. We were lucky that our captain took us on this more easterly route today instead of the usual way back from Aialik Glacier (i.e., the same way we went outbound).

Here are two more views of Resurrection Peninsula (east side of Resurrection Bay) that I took on the way back to port:

 

Although there was still some sun to the east and north as we sailed farther north through Resurrection Bay, to the west we could see more and more gray clouds forming as we neared Seward:

 

Lowell Point State Recreation Area, three miles south of downtown Seward

We got some rain this evening in the campground again. At least folks in town had some sunshine, as we did, in the afternoon.

There's a price to pay for the beauty of the rainforests!

Mt. Marathon and other peaks tower over Seward.

I wore my GPS today, thinking it would be interesting to track our course and see how many miles we went. I turned the watch off two or three times and forgot to turn it back on each time so I don’t have the complete track.

The captain said we did 95 miles out and back in six hours. 

We got off the boat about 5:15 PM and caught the company shuttle bus back to the military resort. Cody did fine in the camper all day while we were gone but he was very happy to finally get his supper a couple hours late.

A fishing boat parallels us as we head for the small boat harbor.

SOME FINAL THOUGHTS

We were served lunch soon after we left the harbor. We got a chicken tortilla wrap, carrots, and a crunchy bar (included in cost of ticket). A vegetarian sandwich was also offered. Later we were served warm chocolate chip cookies. Yum! We could get water, tea, or coffee at no extra cost. Beer, wine, hot chicken soup, snacks, and other items were available for sale. We took some of our own snacks on board.

Some of the other marine tours by both Kenai Fjords Tours and Major Marine Tours serve full meals, usually featuring salmon.

The only item we bought in the gift shop on the boat was a very nice spiral photo book, Stirring the Senses, A Guide to Kenai Fjords National Park published by Alaska Geographic. It is 48 pages long and a bargain at only $3.

It's the booklet mentioned in the quote at the beginning of this entry. It has many beautiful photos and illustrations, a map of the marine tour routes, a wealth of well-written information about the ecology and cultural history of the area, lists of common wildlife, places to take notes during the trip, etc.

I think the only place to purchase the book is on-board, encouraging impulse purchases. It’s well worth it, however, and the proceeds go to the national park.

As I said earlier, we really enjoyed our tour today.

We highly recommend other visitors weigh their options and choose a tour through Resurrection Bay and as far beyond as their stamina and budget allow.

Next entry:  visiting the Alaska SeaLife Center -- all kinds of marine animals up close

Happy trails,

Sue
"Runtrails & Company" - Sue Norwood, Jim O'Neil, and Cody the ultra Lab

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© 2012 Sue Norwood and Jim O'Neil