A Tale of Whales and a Whale of a Tour

The large black and white orca - from its four legs likedorsal sailing upright and a long sleek and black whitebody - arrived quickly cut through the water, apparently in route acollision boat. A species of catfish in black and white eyes, fins, flippers, Kansas andfluke.The lady to my right gave a little out "breath." HiTUS could? "Asked for time to her husband plaintively.No answer. A few seconds later, and only four meters ascant the starboard rail, the orca suddenlydove, body and dorsal disappearing from view. His coursetook directly under him (not!) Our boat. A scrambleensued crazy as all ran through and around forwardlounge ship on the left side of the ship. Most of us have to do intimate revival of the latissimus dorsi. thrustmightily creature with his fate was in the horizontal and incrediblespeed. "Ah," said Lady Kansas, which was a show. "Oh, yes," said the man in Kansas, "a real program." But the good thing was, is just one of many who memorablemoments days when crossing the waters of Kenai Fjords National Park on an excursion resurrection Bayand ofSeward afternoon off. Our ship was the Alaskan Explorer, a ship operated by Kenai Fjords Tours severalsightseeing. ofabsolutely rotten despite rain in some parts of thetrip, we (the wife Marilyn and I) enjoyed one of the best waterborneexcursions have ever experienced. The test, in fact, that Alaskaone must never lose the pleasure of a journey of time only becauseof bad, just warm clothing in layers, to it.The journey started around 11:30, Shortly after our arrival Enel City Resurrection Bay aboard the Alaska Railroad from Anchorage morningtrain. After leaving the dock we heard words education ofwelcome and not one but two captains, Chris Androy. We have advised: "Keep your hat post. Unlessyou not to wear hats are one. "" If you see people in the water, throw a lifeline, and the fact that this boat. "Only a few nautical terms: 'Port' means left, 'meansright straight', 'Stern is to the rear of the ship and the" bow "acute isthe order of the boat." And, "If you feel dizzy, go aft deck to help. Repetition, aft!" Shortly after we had a delicious lunch, deli style, consistingof patties breaded chicken or fish (or both), the chips of choice for Apple light drinks and biscuits. Our meal was interrupted (it did not matter) Critter ourfirst the light of day, a sea otter alone, that about the ship's port side inthe. ("Left" someone asked. "Yeah, right.") The creature is reclining in the Sea Otter Classic, supine on the water, the legs under the chin with his tail up and his stomach lowerlegs . "It weighs about 100 kilos and that," said one of ourcaptains speaking from the bridge, one of the densest layers OnEarth. "We've heard a lot of" ooh "," Aaahs "and" No, honey ... "from across the room. One of our table mates, PatHorner New Jersey, was captivated." Nothing is as in New Jersey "which, he said. Her daughter, Gayle Newfeld of Kodiak hassen abundance of sea otters digging near his home Alaska. But she, like us, was as enthusiastic as well.Next on our list was a mammal Dall porpoise, ahundreds yards to starboard. "Y" one of the fastest swimmersin North Pacific, "said the voice from the microphone of the commander." Flipper in a tux. It weighs about 300 kilos and can travelupwards to 35 mph. "So - the point highlight of our trip so far byany - came our romp on the wild side with killer whales (Orcas), including eight tonnes men threaten to torpedo "us. Surprisingly, during our trip Noton, but two separate groups of orcas, half a dozen animals ineach group, joined us for fun near our boat. Bothgroups beat us, we ran and surrounded us when slowed.They rolled, played, made few infringements approachedliterally inch shallow boat. A time, ignoring the rain and looking down my lane Postato leads, I found myself watching a creature incredulouslyinto hole "hit! Thank God takethat time to exhale. Once again the voice from the bridge announced presenceof Steller sea lions, the first of several large or smallersightings. A large group of them, maybe three dozen or more fell asleep, resting, crawling and climbing on the rocky beach ledgesat