Aialik Glacier is SPECTACULAR. Sitting on a cruise boat a quarter mile off the glacier with the engine off just listening to the sound of the ice I was in constant awe. The sounds of the glacier are astonishing. Then to see a huge ice chunk break off, calving into the sea, is a sight and sound I will never forget. I could have stay there for days.
The second highlight of the cruise was a Humpback whale spotting. The whales hump would break the surface occasionally as we waited and watched for almost ten minutes. Just as the captain was firing up the engines to pull away. The boat went silent for a second, then someone broke the silence with an excited gasp and laughing hoot. The reason, our Humpback whale had just performed a full body breach within 100 feet of the boat. It was beyond impressive to see a 35 foot, 70,000lb animal jump fully out of the water only to come CRASHING down with a violent splash.
I personally enjoyed the calving glacier more than the breaching whale; but both are rare sights by human eyes and both are moments in time that I will never forget.
