Alaskan Cruise Journal # 4

Wednesday May 23rd 1:03 pm

We woke up at 9 this morning to the realization that the ship was traversing ice-filled waters headed toward the Tracy Arm Fjord. We rushed to get ready and then rushed to the deck to watch the scenery. We needed breakfast so we rushed down to eat. While we were eating we found out it was too dangerous for the captain to continue to the glacier face in the fjord. The boat turned around and we stayed on deck for a long time watching Alaska go by. We saw several mountain goats and 4 bears. (2 black, 2 grizzly) From the ship they looked like white, black and brown dots but through the binoculars you could watch them cavort. We went to the sun deck for a snack lunch and settled into deck chairs for our afternoon of whale watching.

So far, we've seen several whales and some smaller unidentified creatures breaching the surface. One came very close to the ship and it looked like a baby orca. One whale flipped it's tail out of the water about 16 times. It was quite a show. Folks were gathered along the rail oohing and ahhing like they are at a fireworks show on the 4th of July. I really enjoyed watching people run back and forth from starboard to port when someone would yell that something was over on their side. At one point I considered fooling people by yelling something like, "Look! It's a bear (pause) shaped rock!" I don't think they would have appreciated it.

It's a bit quiet now but we're gonna hang on the deck all afternoon. The weather is and has been amazing. Sunny and mild. Today's a bit overcast but gorgeous compared to what it should be. This is the best afternoon of doing nothing I've ever spent.

Afterthoughts: While we were watching for bears and such during the Tracy Arm portion of our day, I thought one guys head was gonna explode if he didn't see a bear. When we finally spotted one, he ran to get his wife but by the time he got back the bear had skedaddled. When we finally spotted another one we tried to tell him where to look and he was about to wet himself in anticipation. I was this close to trying to round up a Prozac for the guy.

During the afternoon, I found out from Steve that the UMO's (unidentified marine objects) were Pacific White-Sided Dolphins. I had never seen these guys before. They do look like little orcas. We had to have seen dozens of them that afternoon. The whales watching that afternoon was pretty good. They stayed a fair distance from the boat (no good pics) but through the binoculars you could watch them. I watched one lay on his side and flap his flipper for a couple of minutes. I am fascinated by whales. I am writing a story/poem about them that I started a while back and now that I've seen these guys in person I am determined to finish the story after I do a little research.

The sun in Alaska is alot more intense than anywhere I've ever been. Every day I would go back to the room and marvel at my sunburned face. Even wearing a hat didn't help a whole lot.