Abundent Wildlife

Sea Otter
Orca Whales (2 pods)
Sea Lions
Puffins
Dall's Porpoise
Humpback Whale

Yes! All spotted in one day on our Seaward Wildlife Cruise. For those of you who don't know, Kami and Russ came up for (3) days and we went on a cruise out of a Seward for the day, hiked up on Byron Glacier another day and went Bear viewing/salmon fishing on the last day. Had a great time.

The cruise was great except for the weather. It was very overcast, raining hard and rough seas. That all would have been fine if I would have remembered to take my Dramamine pills. But nope I forgot, so I feed the fish once over the hand rail. We had 6-10 foot swells and after a couple hours of that I decided to give my lunch to the fish. I was then fine. Felt bad for John since he had to stand beside me while I was not feeling well, but we all got to see amazing wildlife.

We also got to see bears up close while on the fishing trip (if you have this blog then you should have already gotten the pictures) If not send me an e mail and I will forward them to you. They are really cool.

Wanted to attach a video that Russ took with his camera of the Dall Porpoise. So enjoy, we did

No need for bear spray in Alaska

So how much money do you think we have spent on purchasing bear spray? We had I don't know how many people tell us that we had to have some and that we needed to "Watch out for bears everywhere you go". Well let me tell you folks, if you don't want to run into bears just take us hiking with you. Not only will you not spot bears, but you wont spot anything else either. We are like wildlife repellent. Just rub us on your clothes and you wont have to worry about so much as a out of control squirrel. Now mind you we have seen wildlife while driving. Nature's creature seem to really enjoy just chilling by the side of the road, staring at you with the look of "Go ahead, make me run out in front of you and ruin your car look". But hiking, nope they are not out there.

I figure it has to do with our perception of their natural environment. We would like to think that they spend all of their time foraging for food in the deep, dark, depth of the forest. That they are primal and less socialized then us humans. It really couldn't be further from the truth. You see they love roadsides. Human trash and all. They love campgrounds, again human intervention. What they now don't like is to actually forage. Why should they.

If you go to the Deep Creek boat launch out of Ninilchuk, you can see man's greatest contribution to the eagle population of Alaska. Every fish that is brought in in the area; halibut or salmon are cleaned, filleted and handed off to the lucky fisherman. What do they do with the guts, well they throw them on the beach. Yep, imagine numerous fishing charters with a boat full of 4 fisherman. Each fisherman can catch (2) halibut a day. So all those guts get thrown onto the beach for the eagles. Yeah us. We are provided for our national symbol. Oh, and also the seagulls, but no need to worry about they becoming overpopulated . So what happens to the eagle natural instincts to hunt? Let me ask you this, if someone put food in front of you or you had to go find your own, which would you choose? Yep they are not dumb birds.

Okay, I know I got off the subject of the bears. Sorry. I think that the point that I was trying to get to was that the bears pretty much don't want to see us anymore then we want to see them. (Although I really do want to see them, that is why I am going Bear viewing/salmon fishing)

Now I know that in the past my daughter has not allowed me to have bear spray. Something about the fact that I might use it inappropriately on people that are pissing me off. But if I have to go to the expense of having it, shouldn't I at least get to use it. Not on the bears of course, on the people. You all need to offer me your support on this one. I spent good money on this spray. I promise not to use it on anyone that really doesn't deserve it.

Cross my heart.

Halibut/Salmon Fishing- Cook Inlet- Kenai Alaska

Halibut/Salmon Fishing Rocks!!!

So John and I are in Alaska and have done our first (and definitely not last) fishing charter. We went out on a combo Halibut/King Salmon trip. Free advertisement here for Hooky Charters! If you go to Kenai, use them, they are the best guides, best price, best fishing spots. Our boat was the only boat that day that caught kings. Okay back to my story. So we have to be at the boat at 7:00 am. Yes, I know that is theoretically the butt crack of dawn for me, but I was there anyway. Drive to deep creek, get launched by a log skidder and out out to the wild blue. We started out with a fairly typical coastal day, you know, foggy. I caught the first fish, a small halibut, maybe 15 lbs, and went on a search for the salmon. The next part I am NOT making up, I see a salmon on the surface ( a red is what they call them up here) and tell the guide, "Hey I want to go over there where I just saw that fish" so he angles the boat and less then 30 seconds later I get a strike.

Pause in action for a second- Important Notice- I am left handed, poles are made for right handed people. so I have to reel like I have a muscular disorder. Get the picture.

Back to the action- So John comes over to help, and the guide says "Hey John, you have a fish on" so I get abandoned. The guy, Ray, in front of me also gets a hit. So we have (3) fish on. I get to play around for a while before losing my fish, because I reel like a spaz. But I grab my camera to get pictures of John. Over 20 minutes later, he brings a beautiful 40 lb King Salmon into the boat. See picture

Then we go Halibut fishing. I catch a 38 lb one, and another good size one (That is my limit for the day), John brings in a another halibut before we are done for the day.

Great day and good fun.

Here is the most important thing that I need to add. And this is specifically for my daughter Sarah. We were on the boat for 11 hours. NO bathrooms. And I made it. Guess your bladder training program worked. Thanks

ps. We saw Mt Redoubt during its little eruption state: