When we left the cabin to go to breakfast, we were greeted with balloons and a card stuck to our door wishing us Happy Anniversary. Inside an actual anniversary card were several gift discounts. We could reserve a table at the specialty restaurants and not pay the cover charge, we could get $50 off a spa treatment, we would receive an authenticate print from the art gallery, and yes, we could have them sing happy anniversary at supper. Our steward, Allan, also wished us happy anniversary when he met us in the cabin way.
The sea was glassy calm so I decided it would be good to do a walk around the promenade after breakfast. It was chilly so Glen opted to sit on comfy seats near the Wheelhouse Bar and enjoy the passing scene. A Zumba class was working out in the bar and that music can get your heart racing even if you don't dance. I did 3 circuits of the promenade (1 mile or 1.6 km) while photographing the Gastineau Channel which leads to Juneau, the Alaskan state capital. When the Russians owned Alaska, Sitka was the capital but in 1906, Juneau became the seat of government. It was named after a Quebec prospector, Joe Juneau who may have bribed the miners with drink to call the settlement after him. It's an unusual capital in that there are no roads connecting the city to the rest of Alaska.
We missed the docking of our ship as we were slated to board a tour bus and had to meet in the Wheelhouse Bar. I had pre-booked our excursions on line choosing ones that were wheelchair friendly assuming this would allow Glen to enjoy them. However, one in Ketchikan, although wheelchair accessible, involved walking half a mile which Glen felt he could not do.
Our bus guide pointed out all the points of interest to be seen in Juneau as we drove to the Allen Marine Tour dock. The Allen family have been organizing tours since 1970 from their base in Sitka and have a fleet of over 25 whale watching boats. The catamaran style gives the vessels stability and means they can handle the many who wish to see Alaskan wildlife. The day was calm and not rainy (Juneau receives an average of 93 inches [236 cm of rain] a year). This was unusual weather and meant we saw sights normally shrouded in cloud.
A naturalist on board explained the types of creatures we'd see and also pointed out some of the geological features we passed. Due to the fact wildlife is indeed wild, we had no guarantee of seeing anything. But Mother Nature didn't disappoint. The animals of Favourite Channel which the boat plied were so used to the sight-seeing boats, they didn't hide from view. Our first sighting was a herd of Harbour Seals laying on a stony beach waiting for the tide. Unlike sea lions, seals don't have large flippers that allow for land-travel so they hug the coastline using the tide to lift them gently onto and off of the rocky shores.
When the captain used the hackneyed phrase, There she blows!, the excitement in the boat was palatable. We craned our necks watching the humpback whales break the sea's surface. They are amazing creatures and one decided to show off. I lost count of the number of times it dove so its tail could be photographed. Glen and I were inside the cabin as standing on deck would have been difficult for Glen but I was still able to capture this exciting moment. Humpbacks are in Alaska to feed. They are baleen whales who filter fish and krill (shrimp-like crustaceans) through comb-like plates of baleen (the whalebone used in old-fashioned corsets). At this time in September, some had already left for the warmer waters, most mating and bearing their young in Hawaii (see my posts, Hanakaoo Cemetery and Pontoon Boat Snorkeling).
Not to be outdone by the performing whale, some Steeler Sea Lions came to check out our boat, their characteristic noses pointing in the air (one way to tell them apart from seals). These creatures are threatened as overfishing of pollock has led to their decline so we were happy to witness a few of the animals cavorting around us.
Due to the great weather, the captain took us further north along the channel to another place where whales loved. On the way, we saw some Dall's Porpoises breaking the surface. I realized this was the 'fish' I had seen in the wake of the Island Princess as I waited for Glen to get his lunch. It looked liked a black and white torpedo and just as fast, I imagine. They cannot survive in captivity so seeing them in the wild is amazing.
The naturalist spotted a bald eagle but it was too faraway for me to see despite the complementary binoculars the tour company provided. They also had a galley that served a task lunch although we had had ours on the ship before leaving.
Our tour was actually two groups in one, the first only did whale watching while our group was off to see the Mendenhall Glacier. It wasn't a long bus drive to the glacier and it was good to get out and stretch our legs. We opted out of the hike to Nugget Falls for obvious reasons but did a short walk to where we could see the glacier and its surrounding mountains.
The glacier is named after Thomas Mendenhall a superintendent of the US Coast and Geodetic Survey. He was an advocate of the metric system and was responsible for defining the exact border between Alaska and Canada.
The glacier is typical of the glaciers we see in the mountains near Calgary so it wasn't as thrilling to us as it was to the tourists who enjoyed the view with us. There was a lovely visitor centre where we could get warm, listen to a ranger talk about glacier movement, and watch a movie. The Mendenhall Glacier began receding in the 1700s and is used as an example of how climate change affects its retreat.
See my Juneau photos here.
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