What up, y’all? What’s new? Long time no talk! Just kidding, we spoke last week. Well, in the time since, I did something I thought I’d never really get to do. I went through a tunnel built in a mountain to get to a small town, then I got on a boat…
Before I get sidetracked let me provide a little context.
One day while I was wandering around downtown (because that’s what unemployed freelance photo takers do) I stopped to say what up to the guys at Stewart’s Photo, the local camera shop. The homie Matt told me about a cruise he was putting together with Phillips Cruises & Tours and the camera shop’s Canon rep. The plan was to take a group of photographers (still not sure why they wanted me) out on a “26 Glacier Cruise” throughout the Prince William Sound, letting us use an assortment of Canon lenses and DSLR bodies during the time. I was hyped, not only on the fact that he had thought to invite me, but also because he knew there’d have to be a spot for my brother The Young Kimosabe.
We arrived in Whittier, AK, around 11am, with a departure time of 12:30pm, so we had a little time to kill. Even though I’ve lived up here my whole life, I’ve never been on a large boat before so I was pretty excited. The tour promised to take us along the water and see 26 different glacial formations (bonus points if you can name the three types of glaciers in theses photos), as well as various animals in the area.
After the jump are some of my favorite moments from the trip, I hope y’all enjoy ’em! If you ever find yourself in Alaska, you need to 1) hit me up and eat pizza with me and 2) get on a 26 Glacier Cruise. Mad fun.
Captain’s View. Scoping out the area for booty wildlife.
Saw TONS of trees and healthy forest areas. This place made Anchorage look like Chicago with how much the land was preserved.
Another passenger attempting to get his shot. I think there was a humpback whale in the water, not sure why I was so focused on getting his photo…
I was only three feet back when I took this photo…
Not long into the cruise we spotted a bunch of fuzzy little puff balls floating in the water. It was a gaggle of otters, y’all! Shit was crazy, those lil things are so cute. True story, one square inch of an otter’s coat contains more fur than a german shepherd’s entire body. The more you know!
After the otters I didn’t think it could get much better… until I saw this cute lil nigga… What you’re looking at is a harbor (or spotted) seal, and they are experts at chillin’ on large pieces of glacial ice.
This formation tucked between the mountains is known as Surprise Glacier.
I think this might’ve been Baker Glacier. I could be wrong, but you’ll never know for sure until you go on the cruise for yourself.
“Blue Magic.”
A bunch of passengers in awe of one of the glaciers. Seriously dope to see, the photos definitely don’t do them justice.
A couple of kids on the cruise get the job of catching rainbows fallen ice chunks and taking it down to the bar. The glacial ice is then chopped up and sold in drinks at an extra cost. Brilliant.
Finally a whale sighting! This was the first of many, and unfortunately none breached for us, but the homies put on a pretty dope show of belly floppin’ and blowhole spittin’ (gross). This little guy was a humpback, a majority of what we saw were young humpback whales.
And another.
Big Mama.
MORE OTTERS!
The man behind the whole thing. Thanks again, Matt!
More tree-y goodness.
Alaska got all tropical on us for a minute. Hundreds of Black-Legged Kittiwakes were posted on the rocks near the water. Apparently if one eagle shows up to the party they all dip, would’ve been ill to see.
After all was done, I had an ill time on the cruise, and would definitely do it again. Thanks y’all for peeping the images, I hope they helped you feel how I felt while out on the water.
Until next time, y’all!