Valdez bay. This is the bluest northern sea water I have ever seen

Chugach Mountains on the northern edge of the Prince William Sound. Valdez (population 4036) is to the right

I took no pictures of Valdez itself. Was saving up space for the cruise

A waterfall

There’s a Bold Eagle perched on a fallen branch in the middle of the picture

The bold eagle up closer

Several sea lions. There were several spots out in the ocean where the sea lions swim freely

This is an Arctic Barge coming out of Valdez with two smaller ships tagging along behind

A tail of a blue whale in the distance. There were a couple of whales following our ship, arising out of the depths every 5 minutes

Chugach Mountains

Several cliffs we came up to very closely

5 meters from the boat

The boat actually floated into the cavern

The cliffs again...

More cliffs...

Northern parrots called Puffins, with orange beaks and white bellies. They fly very clumsily

We came upon hundreds of seals resting lasily on the sun.

The sun in the south. The seals on the shore. It’s a poem...

The boss seal is on the boulder setting down its terms

One of the other whales flashing its fin at us

At the life vest of Lu-Lu Belle

As we came upon the Columbia Glacier, I forgot about all else

3/4ths of all weight of icebergs is beneath the waterline

The Ice drifted for 15 to 20 miles south of the actual glacier

Sasha waving from the upper deck

Edge of Columbia Glacier, 10 miles away

This iceberg is 8 meters high

The Columbia Glacier edge is 6 miles (10 km) away. The ship cannot get to the actual edge because there are 6 miles of impassible icebergs sitting on a shelf of shallow water and waiting to melt in the sun. As the ice melts it breaks off of the shelf and floats freely into the Prince William Sound

Our ship Lu-Lu Belle on the dock in Valdez

The Bad Ass Coffee House in Valdez - one of the baddest places in the North