July 24, 2024 – Wednesday – Day 31
Today was our Glacier Kayak tour at the Aialik Glacier. This tour starts with a 2-1/2 hour boat ride to a few miles from the glacier. On the way we will look for sea life and other animals. After being dropped off on a beach, we will then kayak 2-1/2 miles to the face of the most active glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park. We then will return the same way.
We met at 7 am at the office of Kayak Adventures Worldwide. Our guide was Brenden and his mom and aunt from California were in our group. We also had a couple from Boston with us.
The weather looked okay when we left Seward, but on the water it was very foggy and for the first hour we had no visibility. It cleared up a bit and we saw a large pod of humpback whales doing what is called “bubble netting”. The group of whales submerge and start circling underwater, letting air out of their blowholes. This creates a cylinder of water with the net of bubbles surrounding it. This “bubble net” traps the small fish and then the whales move the net upwards, concentrating the fish on the surface. The whales then follow upwards with their mouths open, capturing mouthfuls of fish.
It was amazing to see. The whales did this several times, with one time being very close to our boat. The guides said it is very rare to see this and most guides will only see that 2-3 times per summer.
We also saw seals, sealions, and many beautiful birds on the way out. After arriving at the beach we unloaded the gear and started our kayak trip. We were very lucky that the sun came out and it was a beautiful sunny day for our paddling trip.
It took less than an hour to paddle to the face of the glacier. Aialik Glacer is 1 mile wide and 300-600 feet high at the base. It is also very active as each day about 6 feet of the glacier calves off into the ocean. That means 6 feet of the 300-600 foot by 1 mile long chunks of ice fall off.
We were lucky to see several calving events. They make a huge sound like very loud thunder when the ice cracks from the glacier. The problem is by the time you hear the noise, the ice has already fallen. You must be continually watching for the ice falling, not listening for it.
We had lunch while floating at the glacier. We then paddled back to the beach and loaded on the boat for our trip back to Seward. On the way we saw more sealions and several Orca whales. It was a very fun day the weather was beautiful. The only issue was I dropped my phone into the ocean. However, earlier in the day I tied a length of paracord between my phone and my life jacket. So, after panicking I found the rope and pulled my phone back up from the ocean. It was a very good day.
Corey & Eva's Travels 