Kenai Fjords National Park--Mammals
July 30, 2011
Noak told us that we had a particularly excellent trip for marine mammals. We saw not only the relatively unusual Humpback Whales, we also saw Fin Whales (the second largest animals in the world) and Orcas (who are technically not whales but rather members of the dolphin family, although they sure look like whales). We didn't see the elusive Beluga Whale, but it was still an exciting trip for mammals.
We saw Sea Otters, Sea Otters and more Sea Otters. Photo by Eric.
Another great otter photo by Eric.
A pair of otters.
Another look at them. Otters like to float on their backs like this. They dive down to hunt food (mostly crabs and other crustaceans), put the food on their stomachs, and eat in this position.
Another Eric otter picture. We really got a good look at them.
Here is a good look at their faces.
A single otter.
We also got good looks at Steller's Sea Lions, a larger species than the California Sea Lion we see all the time.
A sea lion.
Here are sea lion pups at the bottom of the rock. Compare their size to the size of the adult further up on the rock.
We did see Harbor Seals, but not closely enough to get a decent picture. We see a lot of them at home.
While we were deep in the fog bank, the captain of the
Misty called to say she'd found some Orcas.
Our ability to see them in the fog was limited, but we did see them.
The Orca swimming away. Noak was disappointed that we only saw the right side of the animal, because apparently the identifying marks are on the left side.
An Orca diving. It felt incredible just to be in the presence of such a large and powerful creature. The experience brought tears to my eyes.
In all the fog, we could just barely see this Orca jumping up into the air.
One Orca diving deeply and exposing its tail.
And a better look at a tail disappearing into the water.
We did see Humpback Whales, but they were not close to us and I didn't get great pictures.
We got a brief look at some Fin Whales. We were told that they are the second largest animal in the world.
I wasn't able to get a picture of the a Whale head.
Noak told us that it had been a particularly special day, to see all three of these large mammal species. We were very excited.
On to the Alaska SeaLife Center.