A gorgeous day to take a tour on awesome Prince William Sound. Days in Alaska don't get better than this!
Pulling out of the harbor at Valdez provides spectacular views of waterfalls, glaciers, and ultimately marine life.
You can clearly see the snow capped Chugach mountains, reportedly the highest coastal range in the world. Soon ice bergs become apparent.
The Columbia Glacier shown is receding at an alarming rate, making it too dangerous to approach.
Farther West, we are greeted by Sea Otters, and then the ice break up from the Meares Glacier, our ultimate destination on this trip.
The pictures of glacial calving as shown in travel brochures and DVDs seem to feature chunks of ice as large as buildings. In reality, calving happens haphazardly and you may or may not see much of anything. We manage to see a little calving and our happy for our experience. The
lumps on the ice are sea lions resting out of the way of hungry Orca.
Above is the best photo we get of a calving glacier. Although far from spectacular, it is an awesome sight, especially when you hear the creaking and groaning that accompanies the breakup. The noise can be exceptionally loud.
The couple shown above are visiting from Germany. He is a policeman and she is a school teacher taking a month's holiday to visit Alaska.
The crew took a net and dipped out this ice, possibly hundreds of years old. After we all take a look, they get out the ice picks and serve lemonade over this ice. Pure ice - incredibly good!
Our trip back to Valdez provides close-ups of some more critters and different views of the awesome surroundings.
The tail of the whale is that of a humpback, and these, I believe, are Stellar Sea lions basking in the sunlight.
The next photo is the interior of the Stan Stephens boat, a very clean modern vessel with an outstanding crew. We are impressed that they take the time to actually wash the windows of ocean spray as we are standing still watching the action. Undoubtedly one of the best cruises in Alaskan waters!
Docking back in Valdez after our 9 1/2 hour tour yields a slightly different type of wildlife. We actually saw many wild hares running around in both Valdez and the Kenai Peninsula. Soon we will be off to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.
For further information:
Stan Stephens cruises
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