Cruising on Prince William Sound from Whittier, July 22, 2010

Since we knew the tunnel schedule we only waited a short time in line, but at the end.

 

Our refuge for the day, Nanatak, was only about half full.

 

 

 

Found a nice booth, with us on the correct side, facing forward.

First stop was a Black Legged Kittiwake (gull) nesting area.

  Every nook and ledge had its resident.  Also a definite odor was in the air.

Lunch included Alaskan King Crab cakes, rice pilaf and a roll.

 

 

 

Let me introduce Station # 46081, this buoy is maintained by the National Data Buoy Center.  Check out the above link, very interesting information. Do believe this station sends data to the Tsunami Warning Center we visited in Wasilla a few days ago.

The Wally Noerenberg Hatchery was our next driveby. Near this fishery were several bow pickers, they deploy a line of gill nets to capture their fish.

  Then off to a very small island to view these Stellar Sea Lions warming themselves.

Now, we are getting closer to the glaciers.  We drive by Cascade, Barry, and Coxe Glaciers and head towards Surprise Glacier.

Surprise Glacier is over my left shoulder.  Yes, it was cold while the boat was moving.

 

 

Surprise Glacier is approximately 1 mile wide and 300’ high.  When we first arrived up as close as we were going to go, about 1/4 away, the Captain turned off the motor and we just sat there silently.  No one told no one not to talk, but everyone was silent, totally awesome, listening to the distant groans of the ice.  I wanted to burst forth in song, but due to my  lack of a singing voice, chose not to. 

 We did not see any major calving, but did see a chunk probably the size of a car fall in followed by a huge splash.

Our last parting shot of Surprise Glacier.

Some shots along our way back.

Back to the campground, fire time again.  We burned an old box we had been carrying around forever, but with the flames being so high and hot, part of the cardboard became useful as leg shields, also rain shields as it started to do that too.