Seward, Alaska

During a four day break at the end of July, we drove down the Kenai Peninsula to the village of Seward, named after William Seward, the U.S. Secretary of State who purchased Alaska from Russia in 1860.  We camped in the village along the banks of Resurrection Bay off of Prince William Sound.  Highlights of our visit to Seward included a visit to the Alaska Sea Life Center with a behind the scenes tour, a visit to Kenai Fjords National Park with a short hike to Exit Glacier, and a nine hour cruise to the northwestern fjord and glacier, on which we saw three humpback whales, bald eagles, Killer Whales (Orcas), Stellar Sea Lions, Harbor Seals, Tufted and Horned Puffins and variety of other seabirds, and a few sea otters, not to mention breath-taking scenery that included calving glaciers. It appears that the area is bouncing back from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, but not all species, such as the sea otters, have returned to their pre-oil spill numbers.  The Alaska Sea Life Center stands ready to jumps into action should another such disaster occur.  In 1989, no one was ready or equipped to deal with the problem. Today, however, the Alaska Sea Life Center has 128 cleaning stations that can be manned around the clock to assist damaged wildlife.  On the way back from Seward, we stopped in the tiny fishing village of Hope.

Het verhaal en ondertitels in het nederlands zullen later toegevoegd worden.

There is a total of 57 photos.
Er zijn in totaal 57 foto's.

	Fireweed blooms in the valley	A lilly pond along the road/
	Seward i the home town of the 12 year old boy who designed the Alaska flag in the 1920's/	A cruise ship leaves port in the evening/
An octopus at the Alaska Sea Life Center nutures her eggs/	Sea anemones on display/	Tufted puffins at the Sea Life Center
A tufted puffin up close/	An eagle's nest just outside of town/	A stellar jay makes off with some elder berries/
	Exit Glacier
		Seward's small boat harbor
A bald eagle greets our cruise ship as we depart	Beautiful scenery along the coast of Resurrection Bay	Thar she blows...
A humpback whale surfaces	...and then gives a final wave goodbye with its tail/	A pod of Orcas
Stellar sea lions basking in the sun/	Cruising along the northwestern fjord/
	Ice crashes into the water with a thunderous sound as the glacier calves/
	Harbor seals hang out on the floating ice bergs/
		Yet another tidewater glacier
		More stellar sea lions/
A playful trio of sea lions/	Back on the dock, the seagulls invade a truck that carried today's catch/	Our campsite beneath Mount Marathon site of the famous 4th of July race/
A garage with many bird houses in Moose Pass along the Sterling Highway/	The quaint little village of Hope, Alaska
		A rafting company has its laundry on the line to dry/

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