On Friday, Elaine, Jim, and I got on the Lu Lu Belle about 1PM for a cruise around Prince William Sound. The rest of our crew had gotten up early for a fishing excursion for halibut. We arrived early and decided to sit on the upper deck with Captain Fred. The captain did an excellent job of telling us the history of the Valdez area, the real deal on the Exon Valdez, about the Aleyeska pipeling, the 1984 earthquake, and the natural history of the sound. We left the dock area by going by the fish cannery. The fishermen of the Sound transfer their catch to a bigger boat which brings it into the cannery and it is sucked up by large flexible hoses. We next saw sea otters who were just resting on the water. He put the tip of the boat into a crevice in the rocks to see the nesting area of puffins--one of the items on my Alaska list. We also saw puffins floating in the water. Then it was the seal lions sunning themselves on the rocks. They are not really like in the Sound because they eat so many salmon, but they were put on the endangered species list to protect them!!?? We saw whales--lots and lots of whales and some so very close to the boat. I have some great whale pictures--even one of a blow as they surfaced. Then it was on to look at the Columbia Glacier as it comes out of the Chugach Mountains. The captain took us right through many of the ice chunks. We had a great time and the weather was perfect.
On Friday, Elaine, Jim, and I got on the Lu Lu Belle about 1PM for a cruise around Prince William Sound. The rest of our crew had gotten up early for a fishing excursion for halibut. We arrived early and decided to sit on the upper deck with Captain Fred. The captain did an excellent job of telling us the history of the Valdez area, the real deal on the Exon Valdez, about the Aleyeska pipeling, the 1984 earthquake, and the natural history of the sound. We left the dock area by going by the fish cannery. The fishermen of the Sound transfer their catch to a bigger boat which brings it into the cannery and it is sucked up by large flexible hoses. We next saw sea otters who were just resting on the water. He put the tip of the boat into a crevice in the rocks to see the nesting area of puffins--one of the items on my Alaska list. We also saw puffins floating in the water. Then it was the seal lions sunning themselves on the rocks. They are not really like in the Sound because they eat so many salmon, but they were put on the endangered species list to protect them!!?? We saw whales--lots and lots of whales and some so very close to the boat. I have some great whale pictures--even one of a blow as they surfaced. Then it was on to look at the Columbia Glacier as it comes out of the Chugach Mountains. The captain took us right through many of the ice chunks. We had a great time and the weather was perfect.
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