No trip to Seward, Alaska is complete without a boat trip out into Ressurection Bay to search for whales. We headed out with Major Marine Tours after staying in their Harbour 360 hotel the night before. After a drizzly and windy day the night before we weren’t too sure about heading out into the Gulf of Alaska, but luckly we awoke to the best weather of our trip, clear sunshine glinting off the mountain snow. Certainly cold, but breaktakingly beautiful.

After checking in at the tour desk, which was conveniently located in the hotel lobby, we headed to our boat. We were allocated a table inside, but had the freedom to roam about. I imagine the allocation system is particularly important at the height of summer as it would stop everyone fighting to get on first. After the obligatory safety briefing we were off.

There is no denying that it was cold, but we were wrapped up warm and were determined to be outside, getting the best views. On coming out of the harbour we immediately saw two bald eagles on their nest, one kept hovering in the air, whilst the  other called out to it. But, our sights were set on bigger fish (or indeed, actual fish). There were several sea otters in the bay as well, swimmingly along on their backs, occasionally diving into the water, only to resurface somewhere else  minutes later. The otters seemed to be in groups of twos and threes, their furry little faces clearly in the binoculars sights.

Only about 20 minutes into our trip the captain (who provided an excellant commentary) drew our attention to what he thought was a whale over to the right (is that starboard?) It was slightly ironic, as he had spent the previous 5 minutes explainning that he had never seen a whale this far into the harbour, and we might as well not bother looking for the next 1/2 hour. Sure enough, it was a huge grey whale. As we got closer it blew a jet of water straight into the air, before lifting its tail and diving below the surface. On the boat the cameras were clicking away as people were anxiously getting their shot, whilst scanning the water to spot its return.

Suddenly there was a shout and a frantic pointing as it came up out of the water again. It seemed to almost float at the surface, its huge body just lying there,  before it dived again. A further time, it reappeared in a different place, before finally diving once more and disappearing, as much as we scoured the sea, it did not return.

The boat continued on its journey, past glaciers, more sea otters and stunning mountains, with goats clinging onto the sides, looking as if they were defying gravity. Around a small bend in the coastline we came across a large rock full of seals, some of which were huge. You had the massive ones, lying on the rock asleep, looking like nothing could prevail on them to move, as well as the sleeker, playful ones, constantly diving, swimming and climbing up onto the rock, only to repeat the process.

Resurrection Bay is so named as it provided a safe haven in a storm for a Russian trader, as such, its waters are relatively calm – not so the Gulf of Alaska, as we got closer to the mouth of the bay the waves got larger, the wind picked up and we were grateful for the anti-sickness tablet we had taken that morning. Out in the gulf is where you are most likely to see whales, but not this time. We enjoyed the beautiful views, heading back to Seward whilst enjoying a lovely hot chocolate in the cabin.

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