Seward
July 8-10, 2004
Seward is another tourist-oriented town on the south central Alaska coast. It is at the head of Resurrection Bay and is the gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park as well as a stop for cruise ships.
The Kenai Peninsula mountains provide a dramatic and scenic background to
Seward. We found a very scenic campsite right on the shore of Resurrection Bay
and in town, for convenient walking to museums, restaurants, etc. The campsite
was also well placed for watching boat traffic going in and out of Seward.
We had a sea otter that seemed to live in the bay by the campground. He was
continually swimming around and diving for food. When tour boats came by they
would stop and watch him for a few minutes. That otter is probably a little
brown dot in many tourist photos. However, when we tried to get near him in our
kayak, he kept away from us. Perhaps we looked more like a predator than the
boats.
The cruise ship in the background was there one morning when we awoke, and
left about 9 PM that night.
Resurrection Bay is very narrow; the cruise ship had to back out from the dock and then turn around, providing us with a head-on view as it turned.
With help from a little tugboat, it finally completed the turn and headed out
to sea.
The SeaLife Center in Seward focuses on the marine life of the Alaskan coast;
the center was built largely with funds from Exxon as a result of the Exxon
Valdez oil spill. This tank provided an opportunity for people to touch various
forms of underwater life.
The Center has tanks that allow you to see seals, seal lions, marine birds,
etc. under water, as well as above water. This is a puffin swimming underwater.
Surprisingly, they use their wings, not their feet, to propel themselves. As
they swim, a small amount of air escapes from their feathers, leaving behind a
trail of bubbles.
Shops offering espresso are everywhere in Alaska, so it seems.
Exit Glacier is the only part of Kenai Fjords National Park that is
accessible by auto; you need a boat to get to the other glaciers or an airplane
to see the Harding Icefield that feeds the glaciers. We took heed of the
sign and didn't go any closer. The crevasses looked very imposing; I wouldn't
want to fall into one.
Next stop - Whittier.