A Tale of Whales and a Whale of a Tour

The great killer whale black and white - his four foot-candles as the dorsal fin erect and rising from a long sleek body in black and white - came quickly cut through the water, seemiingly on a collision course with our boat. a kind of black and white torpedo with eyes, fins, flippers, and fluke! The lady of Kansas, to my right has a small shudder. "It could hit us?" plaintively.No requested time for her husband to answer. Seconds later and only a small four meters in our guide to starboard, orca dived, his body and out of sight back. His course took him directly under (no! Boat) Prayer. What followed was a mad rush as everyone running through and around the living room in front of the ship to port of the vessel. Most of us have time to see the revival of a great return. The creature thrust strongly with his luck ran and horizontal at an incredible speed. "Oh, my," said Kansas Lady ", which was a spectacle." "Oh, yes," said Kansas Man ", a show really." But the most important thing, is just one of many memorable moments in the day as we cruised the waters of Resurrection Bay and Kenai Fjords National Park on an afternoon trip out of the historic city of Seward, Alaska. Our boat was the explorer of Alaska, a passenger ship operated by Kenai Fjords Tours. Despite the rain absolutely rotten in some parts of the trip (wife Marilyn and I) enjoyed one of the most beautiful waterways tours we have ever experienced. The evidence, in fact, that in Alaska you should never sacrifice the pleasure of a ride just because of bad weather, just warm clothing in layers, for it.the journey began around 11:30, shortly after our arrival the resurrection of the city on the Bay on the morning train from Anchorage Alaska Railroad. After leaving the dock we heard words of welcome and captain education is not one, but two, Chris and Roy. We were advised: "Keep your hat. We will not return to the hats, unless you are using. "If people are observed in the water, throw a ring of life - if not for this boat." "Some nautical terms" port ": left, right" directly ", the" poop "is toward the rear of the ship and the 'arc' is the end of the boat." And: "If you feel dizzy , go to the stern to the railroad on the lower deck. Repeat poop! "Shortly after we had a delicious lunch, deli-style, which consists of breaded chicken or fish (or both), apple chips, choice of drinks light, and cookies.Our meal was interrupted (we did not mind) by the vision of our first child the day, a lone otter adrift at sea on the left side of the ship. ( "Left?" Someone asked. "Yes, to the left.") The creature was in the sea otter classic pose - in the water on his back, paws under the chin, leg and tail is tucked in her womb. It weighs about 100 pounds and has "one of our captains said, speaking from the bridge," one of the densest layers of the earth. "We heard a lot of" ooh "," aaahs "and" not expensive .. . across the aisle. One of our table mates, Pat Horner of New Jersey, was fascinated. "Nothing like this in New Jersey," he said. His daughter, Gayle Newfeld of Kodiak, has seen a lot of sea otters digging near his home in Alaska. But she, like us, was as enthusiastic as well.Next on our list of mammals was a Dall's porpoise, a few hundred yards to starboard. "It's one of the fastest swimmers in the North Pacific," said the voice from the microphone of the commander. "Flipper tuxedo. It weighs about 300 pounds and can travel over 35 miles per hour." Then - highlight of our trip by any measure - came our romp on the wild side with the orcas (killer whales), including eight men-ton, which has threatened to "torpedo" us.Incredibly not, in the course of our cruise one but two parts of the orca, a half dozen animals from each group, joined us to frolic about our pace groups vessel.Both of us ran and surrounded us when slower. Rolled, played, made the breaches of the surface and literally came within inches of our ship.Once, ignoring the rain and looking down from my post on the railways still, I found myself staring in disbelief "a blow creature "hole! Thank God took that time to time exhale.Another voice from the bridge has announced the presence of sea lions