Seward, Alaska: Alaska Sealife Center - Rescue & Rehabilitaion

What a great day! Currently there are several wildfires in Alaska which is typical for this time of year, or so I'm told. Apparently lightning is the main culprit, especially in the interior. And with all of the good weather, conditions are ripe for fires to start easily and spread quickly.

So, despite lots of smoke in the air for the last two days we continue to have a great time. A little hazy in the distance and there is a distinct smell of smoke when you first go outside. They weather here has been very warm and dry.

Today we drove over to Seward which is about an hour away. We wanted to see the Alaska Sealife Center, which has a terrific reputation in the area -- especially for their Rescue and Rehabilitation programs.

Mary Lynn and I took the behind-the-scenes tour at the Sealife Center. We've done that before at various attractions (like the Biltmore in Ashville NC) and it has always been worth the few extra dollars. The Sealife Center's behind-the-scenes tour was very well done; our guide was Mereth and she knew a lot about the center as well as the rescue & rehabilitation programs.

Rescue & rehabilitation is an important part of the Sealife Center's responsibilities. Wounded or abandoned seals, sea lions, etc. are brought to the center and nursed back to a point where they can be released back into the wild. Every effort is made to separate the animals from all human contact as well as interaction/contact with the other animals.

Human contact is avoided so the animals maintain their fear of humans. This includes not talking around the R&R animals and feeding remotely. Feeding remotely can be a simple as throwing food over the wall to using something they call a fish cannon, which fires food through a 'cannon' directly into the animals pool.

There are three main exhibits: Stellar Sea Lion, Sea Otter, and Seabirds plus several smaller displays including a very cool 'touch me' exhibit filled with anemones, sea cucumbers, starfish, spiny urchins, small crabs, etc. Loved touching these animals; the feeling is something you have to do for yourself although MLA declined. She's a little squeamish about touching anything a little 'squishy'. She did touch the spiny urchin so I have to give her credit; that was a big step for her!

The Stellar Sea Lion exhibit had both a male and a female. The male weighs in at a whopping 2200 pounds while the female is 'only' 500 pounds. The male was fun to watch as he thundered around the exhibit but most of all it was very cool to hear his bark booming throughout the area.

The Sea Otter exhibit normally houses seals however it is currently home to a sea otter named Skittle that has been nursed back to health. Unlike most seals and seabirds that are returned to the wild after rehabilitation, sea otter requires so much human contact that they

become attached to their handlers. So Skittle, who was found abandoned and half frozen to a float plane dock, will be sent to the New York Aquarium on Coney Island.

Best of all for me was the aviary, which holds ten varieties of Alaskan seabirds: Red-legged Kittiwakes, Pigeon Guillemots, Harlequin Ducks, Common Murres, Black Oystercatchers, Tufted Puffins, Horned Puffins, King Eiders, Rhinoceros Auklets and Long Tailed Ducks.

What a great opportunity to take some great bird photos.

We spent this evening finishing our plans for next week. Our oldest son Christopher and his wife Rachael plus our second oldest son, Scott, all arrive in Anchorage Saturday evening. Mary Lynn & I are so excited we can hardly sit still. Traveling full time in an RV is terrific and has many rewarding pluses; one drawback has been having much less contact with our four children. Our daughters visited us in Arizona last fall and we really enjoyed ourselves.

In any case, having our boys and our daughter-in-law here will be a real treat. We have tentatively planned to take them deep sea fishing, on the Kenai Fjords Wildlife & Glacier Tour, a raft trip, a drift fishing trip, and, if they are not too tired, a few hikes. Actually, it's much more likely that MLA & I will be too tired for the hikes!

In any case, towards the end of next week we will move up to Anchorage where we are getting together with the parents of a young man that Christopher works with. We have only spoken with Cindy and Don via phone however they have been incredibly helpful, offering advice on activities and information on what's happening in the area. We are really looking forward to meeting them in person.

Sounds like a ton of fun.

See Ya!