On this day, we took a wildlife tour on a ship from the Seward Harbor.  The sights on this trip were unforgettable.  The ship we were on was a twin to the one shown here:
 
 

The weather on this day was overcast, so the light and color on the pictures was not ideal.  However, we did manage to get some good shots of wildlife in Resurrection bay.

The first marine mammal we saw was a sea otter.  The otter was busy muching on something, probably a crab or clam.  We actually saw many otters on the tour.  I learned that the population of otters in the Aleutian Islands had decreased by 70% over the past couple of years.  Evidently, Orcas seem to be eating the little critters at an alarming rate.  Perhaps the Orca knows something about the ocean that we don't?

Otters eat shellfish at an alarming rate, consuming 33% or their body weight each day.  I also learned that the Alaska King Crab that is found in the market is not from Alaska at all.  King crab are protected in Alaska and are not allowed to be harvested by commercial or sport fishermen.  The king crab legs being sold in Alaska are imported from Russia.  Hopefully, this will not result in the decimation of the Russian crab populations as fishermen try to make a meager living.  Hopefully too, the closure on commercial and sport fishing for king crab in Alaskan waters will result in an abundance of this resource in years to come.
 
 

As the cruise proceeded, we saw a diverse geology and a variety of waterfowl and marine mammals.  We only saw one whale, and I didn't manage to get  a picture of it.  Sadly, we didn't get to see any orcas.  Jennifer was looking forward to seeing a killer whale.

Regarding the photos, I realize that not all are centered or perfectly clear.  Considering that there was motion on the boat and that these animals were at considerable distance, the pictures didn't come out half bad, in my opinion.  I must say that the Sony FD95 is a great piece of technology.

Further on in our tour, the ship was taken very close to the cliffs.  In one of these coves, I managed to get this shot of a puffin.  Puffins are funny little birds that are known to eat so much that they are unable to fly.  Their primary diet is small fish.  The puffin is Alaska's state bird, not the mosquito.