Monday, July 11, 2011

Kenai National Park


 We took a cruise in Kenai National Park and saw lots more wildlife. Here you can see the seals sunning on the rocks. But first there were more lovely views on the scenic drive to Stewart, where the ship sailed from.


     Here I am sitting on the bow of the boat, where we spent most of our time searching for wildlife. Of course, I was satisfied that the trip was worth it when we spotted a.....


 Sea Otter! My favorite creature of the arctic seas. Otters are the wizened old men of the ocean and as far as I'm concerned, super cute. We saw tons of them the first time we went out, but I got no photos because the boat sped right by them. There were many female Otters with their pups resting on their bellies as they floated with their feet in the air. One mamma Otter had a pup so big on her belly, it was almost half her size. As we watched, she kicked it off her tummy and swam away, the pup in hot pursuit. But she never got too far ahead. She was teaching it to swim!

I love how his flipper feet stick up in the air. He kicks them when he wants to move.




   
     We also saw a hump backed whale!



Other marine life included humans. What a place to sail!



Lovely turquoise water.



  
      These were the seals sunning on the rocks on the little island in the middle of the sea.

 
     This was our last marine tour, and we saw tons of wildlife. Tomorrow is our last day and we go by float plane to Kenai National Park to see Grizzly bears. We were told that the salmon are running, which means there should be plenty of bears to be seen.

2 comments:

Daniel said...

Gotta luv da sea otters!

Dan.
PS: lovely photographs!

J.Tuttle said...

Sea Otters, yeah!