Our cruise on the Nunatak

We decided to take a cruise out of Seward.  It cruised around Resurrection Bay and stopped at Fox Island, where we had a yummy salmon and prime rib dinner.

Seward harbor  in the background, right before we boarded our ship, the Nunatak.

Views as we headed toward Resurrection Bay.

 

 

 

My favorite picture of Mandy on the trip.  she thoroughly enjoyed being on the ship.  It was cold as the ship cruised along but she stayed out most of the time.   Our first sighting of whales along the ship.  The ship captain was very careful about slowing down and not bothering the whales.

 

 

 

We stopped at Fox Island for lunch.  It was a very nice buffet and I believe Nathan went back 5 times!  The cheesecake for dessert was delicious.

 

Our ship docked and waiting for us.  We were on the island for an hour.

 

 

 

We had a Ranger give us a talk after dinner and they had an orca skull (above) and other selected skulls.

 

 

 

 

Looking for stones to skip on the beach. Across from the dock.

 

 

 

 

 

a glacier seen from the ship.  We asked how many glaciers are in Alaska and the answer was that they haven’t been counted but close to 100,000.  Next we went to Emerald Bay, named because the water is this dark green.  It is full of nutrients and the bird and seal populations come there to eat.  Picture below – at the top you can see a WWII bunker.  Alaska was actually quite involved in WWII.  They have bunkers that soldiers climbed up and stayed for a week at a time.  They watched the bay for enemy planes and boats.

The birds had nests in all of the little coves and crannies.

 

puffins swimming on the water.  They are water birds and aren’t very graceful while flying.  Puffins on the rocks.

 

Seals sunbathing.  The taller one toward the back is the male.  The others are females.

 

The captain said the number of seals, otters, and whales were down a lot from the past. 

 

 

My camera doesn’t do justice to the scenery.  I understand how many could live here – although I surely don’t understand how they can.  The prices are unbelievable.

As we headed back we saw a little otter just floating along.  They float on their backs with they little paws out of the water.  I couldn’t get close enough to get a wonderful picture but there he is. 

 

 

 

 

 

Nathan on board.  He spent most of his time on board talking to the captain and asking a million questions. 

Heading back to port.  We saw our only eagle.  He/she was sitting on a nest high in the tree tops. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We all really enjoyed the cruise and seeing the beautiful creatures and mountains.