Kenai Fjords National Park

The best way to experience the park is by water. People recommended that we take the longest cruise possible so we booked an 8 1/2 hour tour on a smaller boat that will get you closest to the glaciers.

Again we lucked out with the weather. We had picture perfect blues skies. It was the first tour of the season for the crew and captain. They were ready to see what had changed since September. The first thing we spotted were some humpback whales. Captain John stopped the boat and let us watch them lunge feed. We even got to see the classic whale tale before they dove into the water.

Boats ahead of us talk on the radio about what they’re seeing – not just tour boats, fishing boats and research vessels as well. A research vessel spotted a pod of orcas they’re studying so we headed to that spot next. Captain John told us this pod had 10 orcas – we spotted 8 of them.

Our destination was Northwestern Glacier. Along the way we saw more humpback whales, puffins, sea otters, bald eagles, mountain goats and various other impressive Arctic birds. I was really looking forward to this tour because I wanted to see the whales. That’s because I didn’t know just how impressive the glaciers would be. We stopped to watch two on the way – Anchor and Ogive. But the crowning jewel of the day was the Northwestern Glacier. Again I hate to repeat myself but the pictures do not capture how beautiful it was. Captain John stopped ~1/5 mile from the glacier – in water full of icebergs and turned off the engines. We floated there for 45 minutes watching the glacier calve, the sea otters with their pups on the icebergs and simply enjoying something so magnificent. Even the crew got lost in the beauty and lost track of time. We spent ~15 minutes longer than they usually do.

On the way back the crew spotted large spouts of water – the largest of the day. They thought it might be fin whales so we went for a closer look. Sure enough there were 4-5 of them. They are the 2nd largest mammal in the world. We got to see them surface and dive. None of the whales we saw today breached but we did get to see them all surface and dive. It was pretty cool!

On the way back Captain John said this was his best day in the 8 years he’s been here. This was only my first time here but it was are best day of the trip so far! I was stunned by the beauty of the glacier!