In the pale golden dawn of a soft September morning, three travelers, worn and weary from a long, storied trip of the greened forty-ninth state, followed the winding silvery ribbon of pavement leading from the growing metropolis of Anchorage to the sleepy seaside town of Seward where a pale vessel awaited us for a mesmerizing voyage into the watery bays of the Kenai Fjords National Park. A Dall Sheep watched us pass.
We boarded the ship at midmorning and were greeted by a friendly crew, a pale azure sky, and an emerald sea. A lone Bald Eagle watched us leave the breakwater for our adventures which began with a small, furry Sea Otter crunching open a small crab and continued to the amazing bulk of Steller Sea Lions and the plump Puffins with the rainbowed beaks.
Hello, welcome to Alaska!
A Humpback Whale turned her black back not fifty feet from us and we could almost feel the mighty spouts that cast small glimmering rainbows over the solemn sea. But it was the Orcas, the noble Killer Whales, that truly wowed us with their glistening gliding through the churning waves as they, like us on the vessel, dined on the delicacy of Alaskan Salmon, a dull pink, rich in nutrients and flavors that left imprinted memories of our wonderful Alaskan trip. We ate before the towering monolith of a blue glacier. The Orcas swam on.
Gene Merewether