09/08/2026
My family and I had a pretty busy summer so I haven't been very active with posting. Going to start off a little differently than usual by posting my favorite encounter of the season first, and it's one that nearly never happened.
For years now, we've taken glacier tours out of Seward every summer. It's easy to do with kids, you see incredible things, and it's one of the most "Alaska" things you can do. As with most things here, weather can dictate your schedule. I stood in the rain waiting for our boat to board, hoping it would clear up once we got underway. Instead, a memeber of the crew told us just before boarding time that the weather was only going to get worse and that earlier boats were already experiencing heavy swells. So they gave us an option: reschedule, refund, or roll the dice. Our schedule was already full so rescheduling was impossible and we'd already come all this way, so we decided to roll the dice.
It was pretty bumpy from the moment we left the harbor and as we made our way out of the bay it only got worse. Before long, the swells were already getting to some of our fellow passengers. The moment of truth would be crossing the gulf and a lot of open water to head towards the glaciers. Here, the swells had us jolting with each crashing wave. Its a big boat, so we knew there was no danger, but it was easy to see how many people aboard were regretting the decision to join us. As we made our way across the gulf, the swells were almost unbearable and the captain made the decision to abandon the crossing. It was disappointing to hear after enduring a rough start, but the boats ahead of us were already turning back from even worse swells and had trouble making it around Aialik Cape.
Well if you couldn't tell from the photos, our luck turned! Not long after we turned closer to shore, we found a humpback that seemed to be enjoying the swells far more than we were. The captain announced that the whale had breached as we got closer. I've been wanting a photo of a breaching humpback for years, and I finally had a chance. I was hoping that we hadn't missed the only breach when it gave us a little wave. To my great surprise, the whale launched out of the water... again... and again... and again. The boat was rocking pretty heavily so I had to brace myself with my back to a wall and a foot against the railing while trying to steady my lens. Luckily, the boat was facing the right direction for my youngest to watch from the safety of her window. The whole morning before this was washed away and we came away with a memory I'm sure we'll never forget.
