Cernek.org Blog

Yesterday was sunshine and some clouds. Today is clouds, clouds, clouds! Nonetheless, we are off on a cruise of Prince William Sound. With the possibility of seeing whales, sea lions, otters, bald eagles, various other birds, icebergs, and a glacier, we are ready to go.

Valdez harbor sits up the Valdez channel somewhat protected from Prince William Sound. The clouds are laying low on the water as we round the corner and see the main body of the sound in the distance. It will be interesting to see how much we actually see with the weather what it is.

Looking back at the town, the buildings are dwarfed by the magnitude of the mountains that rise behind. The clouds are giving us an ever changing view as the wisps float across and around the mountains.

One of the first things we see right out of the harbor is this bald eagle. They are fairly easy to spot once you know what to look for. The white head is a real standout against most backgrounds.

There are some abandoned mines along the sound. Most were not all that profitable in the day. Abandoned and left for the elements to do as they will, they are slowly collapsing and disappearing. This mine would have only been accessible from the water.

The water is pouring off these mountains. The waterfalls are all along our route, and they don’t look all that impressive until we get in a little closer to shore. It is then we see the gallons and gallons of water that are spilling into the sound. This is all water melting off ancient glacier ice.

That is impressive!

There are a group of Germans touring with us. This is Petra, whom we have met and are enjoying talking with. Her English is excellent which has allowed us to find out exactly what their deal is.

There are 24 of them in all,  traveling all over Alaska and Canada in a huge red bus. At night there is a very small compartment (drawer) they each get into to sleep. Some drawers accommodate double occupancy. The quarters are very close. Snoring is heard by all. We aren’t sure what other sounds are shared. They all pitch in with food preparation and clean-up. There is no toilet on board. They have to use the campground facilities and the toilets found at pull-outs along the road. When we asked how everyone gets along, knowing there is always one in the group that is a pill, Petra commented “Only one?” Hmmmm.

Petra is thoroughly enjoying herself. We are certainly having a lot of fun finding out about her life. It is too bad we are so far apart. Hopefully, Petra will send us an e-mail to let us know about the rest of her journey.

The tour boat passes by Columbia Glacier. We do not go up to that glacier because there are so many icebergs in the water that it is not feasible to get very close. I’m thinking Titanic here! We have been reminded that most of the ice of an iceberg is under the water. Some of these are fairly good size sticking out of the water; so I’m thinking there is a lot of ice under the water.

The blue color is just beautiful. The sun shines on the white snow. The red color from the sun is absorbed. Only the blue is reflected back for us to see. Whatever the science behind it, I am loving the result.

The dark patches are years of dirt accumulated in the ice.

The water is filled with these chunks of ice that have broken off the Columbia Glacier and floated out into the sound. Depending on the size that breaks off and the winds, an iceberg can remain in the water for several days before completely melting away. Since they are always breaking off (calving) and since the flow of the water always brings them out into the sound, this area pretty much always has icebergs in it. At least that is what happens in summer.

This one is almost gone. The ice is getting very thin and fragile. As they melt, the weight changes center of gravity, causing the iceberg to roll in the water. We watched a few roll over. It is fun to see what pops up as the bottom becomes the top.

Our captain seems to know what he is doing as we thread our way through the ice. The person doing the narration of what we are seeing is excellent. This is a good cruise even with the clouds.

It is easy to see the high water mark on the shoreline.

The beauty of this place is so awesome.

Sea otters are so fun to watch. They are all just hanging out, floating on their backs taking life easy. This raft of otters doesn’t seem to have any who are currently working on a snack with a rock on their tummy.

They also are not particularly bothered by our presence. Some are swimming away from the boat, but the majority are just keeping an eye on us.

Whoa! That was a huge humpback whale that gave us a big show. Of course, having the camera pointed in the exact right direction at the right time is a talent I don’t seem to possess at the moment. This splash is huge!

Okay. There’s the blow. We are going to gently follow along with this humpback and see what we see.

Dang! Another great show. This guy is really active.

Now he is just cruisin’.

Oh, oh. He is about to give us a fluke as he goes deep!

Got it! Beautiful!

Back inside the boat Ed is tearing up his hand trying to satisfy the itch of the mosquito bite he got on the meaty part of his hand. Gad, they itch when they get you there!

Sometimes there is just a field of small icebergs. It is sort of like moving through a sea of crushed ice instead of ice cubes.

This is the crushed ice look.

That is our first look at Meares Glacier, the main event of our cruise.

This wall of ice is a huge “WOW!” There is nothing to gauge the size against. It is one mile wide across the face of it. It is about 200 feet tall. It is advancing, not receding. Glaciers apparently have life cycles, and this is one of the few in the advancing, or growing, cycle.

Click here for a YouTube clip of the Meares Glacier calving.

The close-up shot really brings out the blue color. It also shows the cracks and roughness of the surface of the glacier. People hike across these things. The miners hiked across the Valdez glacier to get to the ice fields.

We can hear the sound of the popping and cracking of the ice as it moves, straining against itself and the land around and under it. It sounds like growling and then a loud crack like a rifle shot.

The top of the glacier is full of these jagged pillars of ice. This is not an environment that would be safe to be around.

As we are watching the ice, hoping to see a huge chunk fall off, a bald eagle flies in front of the face. This is a very large bird that is being dwarfed completely by the background.

As we pull away from the glacier we get one last look. We saw several small bits fall away into the water, but we didn’t see the huge chunks that send out a huge wave that can rock the boat. Nonetheless, it was a great adventure!

These seals are just hanging out on their floating iceberg. I’m sure they must be used to the idea that their lounging activity can be rudely interrupted when their bed rolls over.

Yeah! I’m in my happy place!

The whale watching today is proving to be excellent. Here is another blow. I think we have a mother and her baby.

Those flukes are so cool!

Look at the water pour off that tail!

These tufted puffins are in this area because there is a shelf under us. That makes their food gathering chores much easier than in the deeper water.

This colony of sea lions is here all the time and have been for a long time. They winter here. In fact, there are a lot more of them. All of the sea lions in the area group together to stay warm. This appears to be the preferred place to gather when the weather is not as favorable as it is in the summer months.

As far away as we are, we can still hear the noise they are making. They are never a quiet bunch.

They almost look like driftwood from afar.

More whales. We have seen so many today I have lost count.

I haven’t taken the time to try to identify my whale tails. The cruise ship has a book of the whales in this area. Individuals are easily identified by the markings on their tail.

A different angle on the fluke.

Another bald eagle gives us a great photo op. To see so many in the wild is a wonderful experience.

As we come back into the harbor, we can see the Valdez Tank Farm from a closer view than we had in Valdez.

There is a large area where boats are not allowed. The security on this facility appears to be fairly high. There is an oil tanker at the dock now.

The pipeline is coming down the hill into the building on the left. It is 48 inches in diameter and has traversed 800 miles from Prudhoe Bay, crossing 3 mountain ranges and more than 30 major rivers and streams.

The town of Valdez just doesn’t look very big when seen from this far out.

We are back where we started, and tomorrow it will be time to pull up stakes and head for Anchorage. I am very glad that we made the trip to Valdez. It has been a grand adventure and a spectacular introduction to the wonders of the 49th state. Life is good.