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.

Sometimes nature just gives you a little something

Just when you think you really are at your end, nature gives you a little something to keep you going. John and I have been over here at Deception Pass State Park being campground hosts. See previous blog. Needless to say I was pretty much at my end. We also had family visiting, which was nice but added another layer to the hectic disorder. In an effort to give ourselves a break, we decided to take a day off and do something unique to the area. The park system has provided John and I with (2) free tickets for the Deception Pass jet boat tour. We went and got (3) more tickets so that we could take our parents since it was getting close to the end of their time over here and the weather was suppose to be in the 70's. We left the docks out of Cornett Bay at 4:00 on the tour. It started out as any other tour, with commentary from the captain regarding geology and history facts from the area.

We headed out to the Rosario Strait and saw several harbor seals. We then headed over towards Anacortes at about 35 mph, which John thought was really strange, as previous tours he had watched did not head in that direction. I was looking off the north side of the boat when I saw an Orca fin. In my typical style, I tried to get John's attention by making guttural noises and saying something stupid not "not a seal" and pointing. (Family history joke). The captain immediately came to a stop and we got to see a pod of 8 orcas. For twenty or so minutes we got to watch them surface, blow spray and move across the strait.

It was not only amazing to get to see these amazing mammals, but to also great to experience it with our parents. None of us had ever seen orcas in the wild, and there is nothing like it. The sounds they make and watching them move as a pod is something I could have spent hours doing.

Two days later John and I go kayaking in Bowman Bay and get greeted by a harbor seal that just chilled around us.

Sometimes you just need to stop and enjoy what nature has to offer.