July 15, 17, 2024
We took a day to recover from our late night drive to Seward and to get a few household things done. We had a week in one place and it was nice to relax a bit.
We started our Kenai Fjords National Park exploration with a visit to Exit Glacier, about 7 - 8 miles from our campground. We arrived about 10 minutes prior to a ranger led walk and joined in the group. We learned plant succession as a glacier retreats and how that helps scientists date the rate of retreat.
A couple of days later we took a boat tour to the northwestern glaciers. The sounds the glacier makes as the ice is ready to break off is impressive. The cracking sounds a bit like thunder, only a deeper rumble, deeper to the point where you can feel it. Regrettably, we were unable to capture the sound on video.
The ice was really blue the day we were there since the sky was a bit cloudy. We thoroughly enjoyed the harbor seals in front of the glaciers too. One little guy seemed rather curious about our boat.
As we started the journey back to Seward, we were treated to the sight of a pod of whales bubble-net feeding. They worked together and formed a bubble circle around the herring and surfaced the water with mouths open. Amazing!
As the captain of the boat said, "There are whale sighting tours and there are NatGeo tours." What a privilege to see these mighty creatures. Not only did we see the whales hunting, we saw three different species of whales - humpback, killer, and finback Then there were all the otters, sea lions, puffins, and eagles. NatGeo does indeed describe the day, and we've had two such days within the past week at both Katmai and Kenai Fjords National Parks. We are truly humbled by God's creation.
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| Exit Glacier |
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| Approaching the northwestern glaciers |
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| Can you hear the ice thunking against the hull? |
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| Lots of otters |
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