September 13, 2013 Friday
Day 69

Cold, rainy day.
Wildlife viewing day.
There were several ravens around our camper when we woke up this morning. A few of them were walking on the camper roof. They sound so funny, prancing around up there. We also saw some bunnies near the camper. Our campground owner told us that a few years ago, someone dumped off a basket of bunnies near the boat harbor (where our campsite is located) and these bunnies stayed. Over the years, they have thrived in the area. Cute.
Went to the Valdez Visitors Center to check out bear viewing areas and other recommendations. Took a nice drive to Glacier View Park to see Valdez Glacier and lake. The glacier was really close to the road, and there were big blue iceberg chunks floating in the lake. On the way, we stopped at a salmon stream with a viewing platform. Saw a black bear at the water trying to catch salmon. Watched him for awhile, then headed down the road to cross the bridge and go around to the other side of the Port.
Stopped on the way to see the site, 4 miles out of town, which was the Original Valdez Townsite. The original town of Valdez was completely destroyed by the 1964 Earthquake, so it was moved to where it is today. Nothing is left of the old town, just some roads and plaques where the post office used to be, etc.

Saw a beautiful bald eagle up in a tree. Had a stare down with him. He won.

On the other side of the port, we stopped at a salmon stream and watched 6 black bears - 3 adults and 3 cute cubs. They were really close, and didn't seem concerned at all with us watching them.
This was a great spot for wildlife, because, right across the road, we could see sea otters, and harbor seals swimming in Port Valdez.
We drove down the road, until we could go no further because the end of the road was the terminus of the pipeline, the southernmost end of the 800 mile oil pipeline.

Just before the pipeline terminus and the end of the road is the Solomon Gulch Fish Hatchery, another great wildlife viewing spot. We watched for over an hour - Steller sea lions, sea otters, and harbor seals. The biggest of these, the sea lions make a loud blowing noise as they surface for air. When one catches a fish, the seagulls flock all around him, waiting for him to surface again, because he shakes his head, with the fish still in his mouth, and fish parts fly everywhere. The birds swoop in for their share. Fun to watch. It is amazing to witness how many species are dependent on salmon. We also saw harbor seals swimming around eating fish and every so often a sea otter would pop up his head, look around, see a sea lion, then pop right back down. They reminded me of those gophers in the movie, Caddyshack, haha!

On the way back, we saw several bears along the road fishing in the streams. Then we made one more stop at the first salmon viewing platform where we had seen a bear earlier. We saw a Mother bear and her 2 cubs. Fascinating.

The days are rapidly getting shorter up here. We are losing over 5 minutes of daylight EACH day!

Wildlife Sightings
Black bear
Bald Eagle
Sea lions
Sea otters
Harbor seals
Bunnies
Ravens
Sea birds