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Breathtaking fun

Beautiful scenery isn't the only thing going for Seward

By JANET SHAPLEY
Daily News correspondent

Published: March 25th, 2004
Last Modified: June 14th, 2004 at 09:58 AM

On a clear day, the picturesque setting of Seward with the mountains surrounding Resurrection Bay is breathtaking.

Seward is famous for hosting one of the best Fourth of July celebrations in the state, with the run up and back down the 3,022-foot Mount Marathon drawing the biggest crowd of spectators. Thousands of people come to Seward for the festivities, especially when the weather is sunny.

But Seward has lots to offer all summer long. You can take a dogsled ride in town or go by helicopter to dogsled on a nearby glacier. You can take a tour of Kenai Fjords National Park and have an opportunity to see sea otters, harbor seals, whales, porpoises, marine birds and possibly bears and mountain goats while the boats stop to watch glaciers calving.

The Alaska SeaLife Center, a $52 million cold-water research and education institute, provides opportunities to learn about the marine environment through underwater viewing tanks, interactive exhibits and live displays. The 1,000-pound Steller sea lions are star attractions, and they can also be viewed in the wild at the rookery on Chiswell Island through the remote monitoring station. Staff members will present talks about the sea lion research daily.

The Bering Sea exhibit opened last summer and includes a replica of a fishing boat, interactive displays about the changing animal population and the food we get from the Bering Sea, and an ecosystem puzzle.

The SeaLife Center has an eider sea duck research program, and Steller's eiders, spectacled eiders and common eiders can be viewed from the research area overlook.

"They are trying to develop breeding colonies," said Rick Blythe, visitors services director. "Last spring the common eiders had chicks."

An enlarged research area opened last fall called the Steller South Beach facility, Blythe said. It includes four large tanks for Steller sea lions and a separate lab facility. Everything is completely quarantined.

"They (research staff) have to shower before they go in and before they come out, and then change their clothes. They even have a separate mailing address," he said. "It was built to hold animals from the wild on a temporary basis, to keep them healthy, and keep our animals in captivity healthy."

A sea jellies display is new this year, and a mannequin with full diving gear has been added in the underwater viewing gallery. Staff will be giving presentations every hour on different topics, and Kenai Fjords park rangers will talk at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. about archeological research findings in Aialik Bay and black oystercatchers.

The SeaLife Center hosts a week of activities in June, July and August for adults and children, including art and science projects. A small art gallery has been added next to the gift shop, which will feature local art or that of visiting artists. Admission to the SeaLife Center is $14 for adults and $6 more for a behind-the-scenes tour of the research area, and $11 for youths. Children 6 and younger are free.

The Resurrection Bay Historical Society runs the Seward Museum on Third Avenue, which offers a peek at Seward's colorful history. The museum has displays on the building of the Phoenix, the first ship built in Alaska by Russians in 1794; the founding of Seward; the 1964 earthquake; the historic Iditarod Trail, which begins in Seward; the Alaska Central and Alaska Northern railroads; Alaska Native artifacts and baskets; the Mount Marathon race; the silver salmon derby and various Seward businesses.

"We also have different videos available for viewing," said Resurrection Bay Historical Society President Lee Poleske. Admission is a bargain -- $3 for adults and 50 cents for children ages 6 to 18. Children younger than 6 are free. The museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the summer.

The 1964 Good Friday earthquake generated a tsunami that destroyed Seward's waterfront, killing 12 residents and destroying 86 homes. The Seward Community Library shows a film once a day with footage of the quake.

If you have never walked up to the face of a glacier before, plan a stop at the Exit Glacier Nature Center. In addition to the informational displays, videos on calving ice and bear safety, visitors can take an easy walk to the face of the glacier. The main trail is flat, and it takes about an hour to walk there and back. A moderately strenuous overlook hike offers a different view of the glacier.

Sandy Brue, chief of interpretation for the Kenai Fjords National Park, said a junior ranger program is offered daily with park rangers. Guided walks to the glacier are also scheduled at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., and people can take a guided daylong hike up the Harding Icefield Trail on Saturdays in July and August beginning at 9 a.m.

Last year 133 cruise ships docked in Seward, and 83 are scheduled in port this summer, said Lacey Ekberg, executive director of the Seward Chamber of Commerce. The Seward Trolley takes people to various stops around town, and this year will take visitors out to Exit Glacier as well.

People looking for a more remote experience in Resurrection Bay might consider the Orca Island cabins. Orca Island is a one-acre island in Humpy Cove owned by Dennis and Susan Swiderski, who have one floating cabin and two yurts available for rent. The units have compost toilets, pump-fed running water, propane heaters, comfortable furnishings, kayaks and a dinghy for guests to use. Guests need to bring food and clothing.

"Lots of wildlife come in there -- harbor seals, sea otters, land otters, porpoises, and humpback whales sometimes. We've seen orcas and black bear across on the mountainside," Susan Swiderski said.

As with other remote camp sites in Resurrection Bay, people can get there by water taxi, kayak or their own boat.

(Free-lance writer Janet Shapley lives in Soldotna.)