Seward, AK

Time for a field trip! The first weekend of school, we all packed into a van and made our way up to Seward, Alaska.

We started our trip off at the Alaska SeaLife Center. The center is designed to give guests the experience of an aquarium, focusing on local Alaskan marine life. However, unlike most aquariums, the SeaLife Center is focused on rescuing and rehabilitating marine mammals, and educating the public about wildlife conservation efforts. Dr. Kathy Woody, one of the veterinarians at the center, gave us a behind-the-scenes tour of the facility. We learned about all the aspects of successful rescue and rehabilitation work with marine mammals.

As someone with a passion for wildlife and conservation, I immediately fell in love with the ASLC. Their dedication to wildlife conservation, as well as education and outreach, is admirable. If I wasn't allergic to fish, working at the facility would be a dream of mine. Everything they stand for is so important, and the center deserves much more recognition than they receive. And the center itself is absolutely beautifully designed, with a gorgeous outside area to appreciate the view. If you are in the area, I highly recommend visiting the center, as you will not be disappointed!

While in Alaska for the semester, I am volunteering for the ASLC Marine Mammal Stranding Team. I primarily work with stranded sea otters, but the team also responds to other marine mammals, such as whales, seals, and sea lions. The opportunity has been absolutely incredible so far. I have learned so much more than I could have imagined, and there is still so much more to come!

Later that day, we took a short hike up to Exit Glacier in the Chugach National Forest. The park adds a really interesting aspect to the hike, where they place signs throughout the trail leading up to the glacier that state where the edge of the glacier was placed in the past. As you get closer and closer to the glacier, the distance between the years gets smaller and smaller. In the photo below, there is a photo of the sign from 2010, with the glacier in the background. The distance between the two is how much the glacier has shrunk in the last 8 years. These signs allow visitors to visually comprehend the realistic effects of global climate change, an issue that many find difficult to understand when not directly impacted. It feels like you're punched in the face with the reality of climate change.

As a project for my Marine Mammals Biology class, we went on an 8-hour tour of the Kenai Fjords with Major Marines. The project was centered around teaching us how to properly photograph wildlife to allow for photo identification to be determined.

I am beyond grateful that I was able to be a part of the team for this project. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day to be out on the boat. It was sunny and warm all day, the seas were beyond clam, and we saw so much wildlife. Over the course of the trip, we were fortunate enough to see Dall's porpoises, humpback whales, stellar sea lions, harbor seals, and puffins. Although, the most exciting part of the entire trip was seeing about 13 orcas from two separate subgroups (transient and residents). It was absolutely amazing to be able to experience orcas in their natural habitat. Breaching is not a typical behavior of orcas, but we were lucky enough to see one breach, and Colin got an amazing photo!

Throughout the day, we were taking photos of all the animals, especially the whales, and the seals and sea lions. The photos were later examined, and we determined which individual whales we had seen by comparing the photos we had taken to the numerous catalogs that exist of all the identified whales in the area.