RV Alaska 2011: DAY 45: KENAI FJORDS NATIONAL PARK CRUISE

Today we took a 7 1/2 hour 120 mile long wildlife and glacier viewing tour in the Kenai Fjords National Park. We boarded the 92 foot "Kenai Star" this morning at Resurrection Bay which is a fjord. For those unfamiliar with the term, a fjord is a U-shaped valley that was carved by ice when a glacier receded and sea levels rose, resulting in a steep-sided bay. Resurrection Bay was a key outpost in the expanding Russian empire; traveling near the time of Easter Sunday Alexsandr Baranov explored the bay and named it "Voskressenskii" or Resurrection Bay. Small islands are scattered along the bay and some still have remnants of WWII bunkers and gun placements. These installations were never called into action as the closest hostilities to Alaska were in the Aleutian Islands.

NANCY PREPARES TO BOARD THE KENAI STAR

JUST AS WE LEFT PORT WE SPOTTED THIS BALD EAGLE

THIS SEA OTTER RELAXES AS IT FLOATS ON THE WAVES, AND ROLLS OVER OCCASIONALLY TO KEEP IT'S FUR WET. SEA OTTERS ARE BORN IN THE WATER
WHERE THEY SPEND THEIR ENTIRE LIVES. THEY WERE HUNTED FOR THEIR FUR
WHICH IS THE THICKEST FUR ON EARTH AND IT HAS 1/2-1 MILLION HAIRS PER SQ. IN.

HUMPBACK WHALES LIKE THIS ONE "BREACHING" GROW TO 50' & 50 TONS

HUMPBACK WHALES HAVE TWO "BLOW HOLES" LIKE WE HAVE TWO NOSTRILS

THIS HUMPBACK WHALE SWAM UNDER OUR BOAT

WHEN A HUMPBACK WHALE IS ABOUT TO DIVE DEEP THIS IS WHAT YOU SEE
THEY CAN STAY UNDERWATER WITHOUT BREATHING FOR UP TO 45 MINUTES

THE HUMPBACK WHALE STRIKES THE SURFACE OF THE WATER WITH IT'S DORSAL
FIN MAKING A LOUD CRACKING SOUND WHICH SCARES SMALL FISH INTO A TIGHT
SCHOOL, THE WHALE THEN SWIMS THROUGH THE SCHOOL WITH IT'S MOUTH OPEN
TAKING IN THE FISH WITH UP TO 150 GALLONS OF WATER, IT EXPELS THE WATER
AND KEEPS THE FISH, HUMPBACK WHALES EAT ABOUT A TON A DAY