Seward, AK - An All American City

Saturday, August 1 we traveled to Seward, AK for a four-night stay.  Seward is a small coastal town 127 miles south of Anchorage.  It is one of Alaska’s oldest and most scenic communities.  The population of 2,700 people lives in a beautiful area surrounded by mountain slopes, glaciers, and beautiful seas.

Tourism, shipping, and fishing are the mainstay of Seward’s economy.  Many outdoor activities are enjoyed here including boating, kayaking, fishing, and canoeing.  Seward was voted an All American City in 1963, 1965, and 2005.  

Our SMART caravan spent a whole day on a catamaran in the Kenai Fjords.  We saw sea life as shown in the pictures below:

A sea otter playing in the ocean

Orcas are the largest members of the dolphin family.

Steller Sea Lion sunning on the rocks on the shore.

Our ultimate destination on the catamaran tour of the Kenai Fjords was the Northwestern Glacier, a massive collection of ice fields on mountain ranges and slopes.  As we neared the glacier, we passed by chucks of ice that had fallen from the glacier in the warmth of the days prior to our visit.  We hoped to see that happen on the day of our visit.  I was able to capture some of that action in the picture below. 

Look at the two sections on the left. 

The process is called calving, and is also known as glacier calving or iceberg calving.  It is the breaking off of chunks of ice at the edge of a glacier. It is a form of ice ablation.  I had never heard the term before. 

The Northwestern Glacier was certainly a sight to behold.