This display was at the Alaska Sea life Center in Seward, Alaska. This center was constructed after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound in 1989 to study the effect on marine life. Before the spill there wasn't any records to show the populations of sea lions, otters, etc. They knew how many mammals and birds were killed during the spill, but did not know what percentage of the total populations had died.
These girl scouts spent the night at the center. Their poor leaders were exhausted from lack of sleep. Above: it's amazing how vocal little girls can be just touching a slimy starfish.
These little white dots are plankton. Whales actually eat a lot of plankton. Come on? How do whales fill up on this stuff?
We had the best talk about Puffin's by one of the rangers at the Sea Life Center. This bird (name is Rain and his baby is named Drizzle) flapped it's wings on cue. Very cute.
This is a Horned Puffin above. Puffins live 9 months in the ocean and only come to land to find their mates (they mate for life with the same bird) and lay only one egg. The young birds stay out in the ocean for 3 to 4 years before they come to land to find a mate and reproduce.
There was a very nice bird habitat in the Sea Life Center. They build tubes in the rock formations to mimic the birds nests, then put nanny cams in the tubes to study the birds.
This octopus was mesmerizing to watch. Poetry in motion.
I've never seen a fish like this before. Can't remember the name.
Statue in front of the Sea Life Center. Below is the outside view of the Center.
Fishing lures for sale at a shop in Seward. Fishing is a big industry in the Kenai Peninsula
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Above Exit Glacier near Seward. It has receded dramatically in the last 100 years. The path we walked along to get to this viewing place had signs posted where the base of the glacier was in different years. The glacier filled this whole area not that many years ago.
Our group waiting on the bus in Seward to take us to our tour boat. It rained all day. Disappointing but we had a good time anyway. Below was the park ranger who rides along and tells the passengers about the history of the area and spots wild life and whales for us. She kept telling us what a beautiful day it was. Nice to be so cherry on a rainy day. Cliff did see a whale.
Pretty waterfalls our boat pulled up close to view.
Sea lions not caring much about the heavy rain we were having.
Not sure what this plant was, but had to take a picture. Such a bright red.
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