Northern Latitude Adventures — Local services in Seward

This trip was supposed to be a boat ride, but I left a changed man.

We booked the Kenai Fjords Glacier Odyssey because my wife likes whales and I like her better when she's happy. Simple. But then Abby happened.

Our captain, Abby, is not human. She is a shape-shifting sea deity who has chosen a mortal form so she can run boat tours. Abby is an aquatic warlord. Poseidon’s middle child. The kind of woman who could command a kraken with a single eyebrow raise. She and my wife (also part mermaid) met and instantly started speaking in some sort of underwater code. I’m pretty sure they were arranging safe passage for the "saltless", which is apparently a not-so-polite term that mermaids use to reference us mere humans.

We eased out of Resurrection Bay, where Abby performed what looked suspiciously like a pagan sea ritual — and suddenly the AJ pod of orcas materializes like she hit “CTRL+V” on the ocean. They swam circles around us, leaping, hunting, and waving their fins like pageant queens. Abby lowered a hydrophone so we could hear them plotting … probably about overthrowing humanity or wondering who's responsible for bringing the "kelp kicker" along.

Next stop: seal island. These seals aren’t cute; they’re gangsters. They give Abby the “what’s up” nod, grunt in a tone that says, "yeah, you cool", and flop back into their nap after giving me their seal of disinterest.

Moments later, Abby casually says, “Let’s go see the humpbacks,” as if seeing six humpback whales on a Tuesday is a normal human activity. We found them living their best lives — two breached right in front of us, showing off their NatGeo slow-motion highlight reel moves. One did a spy hop just to see if I was InstaGram-worthy. That whale looked into my soul. She knows what I did last summer and now so does Abby.

We head to Aialik Glacier. Abby explains the currents, but it’s clear she is the currents. The ice parts in front us allowing us to easily cruise on up to the glacier. We eat surprisingly good sandwiches while building-sized chunks of ice explode into the bay. My wife and Abby are laughing; I’m wondering if my life insurance covers “sacrificed by mermaids at the foot of a glacier.” My wife scoops up glacial ice to fill the cooler, because of course.

On the way out, Abby spots a weird glow in a cove. “Moon jellies,” she says, like it’s no big deal. We get closer, and it’s thousands of jellyfish pulsing together like the ocean’s lava lamp. It’s hypnotic. Like they are just hanging out at some exclusive underwater EDM festival.

And then — because Abby is incapable of letting us have a normal heart rate — another pod of orcas shows up just to say hi. They frolic. They hunt. They slap the water at us like we’re old friends. I slap back. They ignore me. It stings. I just wanted to participate.

We get back to Resurrection Bay and I realize I’ve been on the water for hours but have experienced a decade of sea adventures. My worldview is different now. I can’t make eye contact with seafood. Store-bought ice has all of the appeal of Hamburger Helper. I dream in echolocation.

Things to know before you go:

Abby can command marine life with her thoughts. (Unverified, but I'm pretty sure.)

The seals have a protection racket.

Sandwiches taste better with a mile of glacial ice calving in front of you.

You will leave with a deep, unsettling knowledge that the orcas might know your browser history.

On a scale of 1-5, this...

We were a party of six that booked a 7.5 hour excursion with Northern Latitude Adventures (NLA). Everything about this trip was exceptional. It started with receiving from NLA clear directions for finding both the proprietor’s building near the dock and where to park our car for the day. At NLA we were given breakfast snacks and introduced to Emily, our boat captain. NLA offers small boat excursions; our party filled the boat. We loved the intimate experience, from the proximity to the water (including the occasional bow spray), to sitting alongside Captain Emily and chatting. Captain Emily offered her extensive knowledge of the sea and land wildlife we witnessed, which we all enjoyed. During our tour we saw humpback whales, adult and juvenile bald eagles, seals, sea otters, and numerous seabirds, including two types of puffins. We journeyed out of Resurrection Bay to Aialik Bay and the Aialik Glacier. Captain Emily maneuvered her boat around the icebergs and sea ice to give us an up-close view of the glacier. There we stayed for 30-40 mins, enjoying lunch and the magnificent view of this huge glacier. The glacier cracked thunderously several times, sloughing off a bit of ice. Just before we departed the glacier calved – a dramatic climax.

As we passed by huge tour boats during our 100 mile roundtrip journey we felt privileged to enjoy such a personal experience. We highly recommend NLA and...

Thank you Northern Latitude Adventures, Captains Clay, Emily, Kyle, and Abby, and co-owner Leif for an Epic week of trips out on the water! It was our third year out with your company. Every experience has been a unique and extraordinary adventure. From Humpback whales bubble net feeding to Orcas showing off for each other and all of the amazing wildlife in between, all of which is set in such stunning landscape, you really delivered. Your captains got us to the right place at the right time to witness so many amazing wildlife behaviors. (The calving glaciers are pretty great too!) And, the intimate size of passenger capacity on your vessels makes the experience so much more personal, comfortable, and easy to enjoy.

A special thank you Captain Abby and Leif for giving us guidance as to how to time our trip to maximize the possibilities of enjoying the wildlife we were hoping to see this time. We know that nature shows up when and how it wants with endless variables working in all directions. Your years of knowledge got us there at the right time to have the most remarkable experiences.

Anyone looking to take a trip on the water out of Seward should try to book with Northern Latitude...