Today we awoke to blue skies and sunshine, so called the Stan Stephens tour boat to see if we could get on a 6 ½ hour tour today to Columbia Glacier (another great 2 for 1 coupon from our Tour Saver book).
On the way out we passed the end of the 800 mile pipeline. We saw the beginning in the Artic and now the end here in Valdez. The tankers average 25 a month now. They said in the beginning there we 50 a month. Most of the oil goes to Wa and CA. It makes up 17% of the total oil supply for the US. 
It was the perfect day for it and we were treated to spectacular views.
and lots of wildlife. We saw rafts of sea otters, 
this big guy was not going anywhere, 
stellar sea lions, 
notice the numbers on some of them,
humpback whales (up close) we watched then for about an hour. They would swim along taking big breaths them every so often dive for 5-10 minutes. When they dive and show their tail it is called, (going to show FLUKE)
puffins,
eagles and many other birds.
The Columbia Glacier is the second largest tidewater glacier in North America. We could only get as close as 10 miles from the toe of the glacier as it has calved off huge chunks of ice into Prince William Sound.
The glacier pushed tons of rubble into the water creating the moraine where the original end of the glacier was which in turn makes the water only about 30 feet deep here. The enormous icebergs get stuck on the bottom in this shallow water. 
The icebergs behind the moraine are floating in deeper water, but are all backed up behind the moraine. The color of these massive chunks of glacial ice is amazing. 
On the way back we saw a couple of sea lions hang out in the sun, 
And back at the dock in the boat harbor there was a sea outer literally taking a nap. He would wiggle like he was dreaming.
and lots of wildlife. We saw rafts of sea otters, this big guy was not going anywhere, stellar sea lions, notice the numbers on some of them,humpback whales (up close) we watched then for about an hour. They would swim along taking big breaths them every so often dive for 5-10 minutes. When they dive and show their tail it is called, (going to show FLUKE)puffins,eagles and many other birds.The Columbia Glacier is the second largest tidewater glacier in North America. We could only get as close as 10 miles from the toe of the glacier as it has calved off huge chunks of ice into Prince William Sound.
The glacier pushed tons of rubble into the water creating the moraine where the original end of the glacier was which in turn makes the water only about 30 feet deep here. The enormous icebergs get stuck on the bottom in this shallow water. The icebergs behind the moraine are floating in deeper water, but are all backed up behind the moraine. The color of these massive chunks of glacial ice is amazing. On the way back we saw a couple of sea lions hang out in the sun, And back at the dock in the boat harbor there was a sea outer literally taking a nap. He would wiggle like he was dreaming.When we got back we decided we would drive over toward the fish hatchery again on the chance that our favorite bear would be out for an evening of fishing. As luck would have it, he was right next to the road digging for roots. 
As people began to gather, he abandoned his digging and went off to fish, occasionally standing up on his hind legs to take in the scene.
That all for today:
As people began to gather, he abandoned his digging and went off to fish, occasionally standing up on his hind legs to take in the scene. That all for today:
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