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TRAVEL - ALASKA 2003
Note: All photographs on this page may be enlarged by clicking on them
KENAI FJORDS NATIONAL PARK Kenai Fjords National Park (KFNP) is located at the southern end of
Alaska. It is bounded by the picturesque Chugach
National Forest to the north and north east, the Gulf of Alaska on
the East, the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge to the NW, Kenai
Mountains on the W, and Kachemak Bay State (Wilderness) Park to the
South and SW. As stated by the NPS: A section of the KFNP map below shows some of the areas described
in the photos below. Our starting point was Seward (top right), which
we reached by road driving from Anchorage, through the Chugach State
Park and Chugach National Forest. Once at Seward our ~6 hour cruise
took us down Resurrection Bay, past Fox Island into the Gulf of
Alaska, all the way down to Chiswell Island which is part of the Alaska
Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, then back up into Aialik Bay
where we saw the Holgate, Pederson and Aialik Glaciers which exit from
the Harding Icefield (apparently the largest in the United States). We returned to
Seward subsequently.
FORESTS/ISLANDS/GLACIERS It was a cloudy day with a fair amount of mist/fog as we went deeper into the Gulf of Alaska. The vistas were exhilarating and somewhat reminiscent of Tongass National Forest.
WILDLIFE It was our lucky day for wildlife viewing. WHALES, DOLPHINS, PORPOISES, SEA LIONS A. There were multiple sightings of Humpback Whales. We were also treated to a remarkable performance by one whale which swam right to our boat, went under it, emerged on the left and repeatedly slapped its fins on the water surface giving us an amazing performance, as these whales are sometimes known to do. These downloadable MPEG files (they are large 10-35 MB files!) have video clips of the whale's captivating performance next to our boat - Humpback Whale 1 MPG, Humpback Whale 2 MPG, Humpback Whale 3 MPG. The picture below is a snapshot of the whale just before it was ready to bring its fin thrashing down on the water.
After giving us a fascinating performance, this whale swam away a few hundred feet, then jumped out of the water, spouting, and then submerged with his tail characteristically showing at the end. Shortly after that, we saw another humpback whale, and much later there were four more humpback sightings (including that of a young one with an adult). B. We also saw a few Porpoises as we headed farther south. Porpoises are similar to dolphins in some ways, but are different in many other ways, as this webpage documents: "Although the terms "dolphin" and "porpoise" are often used interchangeably, they describe two different groups of cetaceans. Dolphins belong to the Family Delphinidae, while porpoises belong to the Family Phocoenidae. Many external characteristics exists that are useful in distinguishing between these two families." C. Shortly before our encounter with the humpback whale above (as we were heading into the Gulf of Alaska from Fox Island), we were lucky to see a huge group (probably numbering in the 40-50 range) of Pacific White-sided Dolphins. This was another exhilarating experience, as our boat followed them as they continually jumped out of the water and dived back in as they moved along in characteristic fashion. A snapshot of this group is shown below. We saw them again later, on our return path to Seward.
D. We also saw numerous Steller Sea Lions on rocky ledges bordering some of the islands.
A number of species that we had previous seen around/at Tongass National Forest and/or Anchorage were also seen here. This included Bald Eagles, Mew Gulls, Herring Gulls, Pigeon Guillemots, Arctic Terns, Black-legged Kittiwakes and Black Scoters. In particular Black-legged Kittiwakes were abundant, and were also common near glaciers. New birds seen here include: 1. A cornucopia of Glaucous-winged Gulls, some being concentrated on rocky shores with young ones in their midst. 2. A few Sooty Shearwaters (confirmed by the ship captain who seemed to be a naturalist) sitting on the water near the area where the dolphins were passing. 3. Large numbers of Tufted Puffins. 4. An abundance of Horned Puffins. 5. A few Parakeet Auklets (look similar to Puffins). A picture of puffins we saw on one of the many rocky ledges is below. They were also commonly seen on the water:
6. Double-crested Cormorants were often seen in non-breeding plumage, with their distinctive yellow chin. 7. Common Murres, were - yes, common! Their lightly streaked flanks were visible. They often dived into the water as the boat passed by. There were other unidentified birds as well. |
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