Major Marine Tours - Seward, Alaska

Major Marine is the only tour company serving the Kenai Fjords National Park area that offers a National Park Ranger on every cruise, guaranteed reserved table seating in a heated cabin and an all-you-can-devour Alaska salmon and prime rib buffet. We took a full-day tour of Resurrection Bay and Kenai Fjords National Park on the Kenai Star, travelling at approximately 14 or 15 knots.

We saw a variety of wildlife on our summer tour. Birds ranged bald eagles, puffins, cormorants, kittiwakes, and murres. Most of these we saw around the Chiswell Islands at the edge of Resurrection Bay. Many sea birds live there because of the abundance of small fish and freedom from predators. We saw several bald eagles along the edge of Resurrection Bay along with some artifacts from World War II when U.S. troops defended the area from attack while the Japanese inhabited several of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. The bald eagles eat fish and waterfowl and are resistant to cold weather. The largest population of bald eagles in North America reside in Alaska.

We also saw sea lions and harbor seals. The sea lions feed at night and sun themselves during the day at haul out spots on the rocks. Their rookery is a haul out where birthing and mating occur. Sea lions walk on four flippers while harbor seals undulate on their bellies dragging their hind flippers. Harbor seals are very shy and spend most of their time floating on chunks of ice away from their predators.

The Major Marine Tours include a National Park Ranger on board their tours, which provides a unique perspective on the wildlife seen. This allows passengers to appreciate the wildlife more, and to gain insight into the Kenai Fjords National Park area and how it has evolved over time. The ranger fields questions throughout the tour, as the boat is guided by the crew to view glaciers and wildlife up close. We were able to learn many new interesting facts by listening to our Park Ranger guide. He brought along books on the different animals we were viewing and invited us to look through them.


A group of sea otters is called a raft. The sea otters were hunted relentlessly for their coat years ago and almost became extinct. Russians called the sea otter pelt "soft gold".


We also saw a group of orcas or killer whales. A group of orcas is called a pod. The dominant orca of a pod is always a female and the others follow her all their lives. We were able to see orcas "tail-lobbing" and "spy-hopping," where the orca will raise their head above the surface and take a look around. Orcas have excellent vision and can see as well in the water and out.

Humpback whales were our last wildlife sighting for the day. These are an endangered species. They come to Alaska in the summer to eat as much fish and store up as much blubber as they can. They go to Hawaii for the winter to birth their calves and mate and won't eat for the whole six months they are gone. They survive on the blubber they accumulated in the summer.

The boat took us up close to Holgate Glacier where we saw and heard some glacier calving. We also saw an underground river running underneath the glacier that helps the ice glide down into the water.

At around 2:30 we were served a buffet dinner which is optional on the tour at a nominal price of $15. We had choices of baked salmon, prime rib, herbed rice, green salad with almonds and orange slices served with captain's dressing and sourdough bread. Complementary coffee, hot tea, and ice water were available. Other drinks were there for a fee. At 6:00 pm we were served dessert all-we-could-eat with choices of carrot cake, fudge-iced brownies, canteloupe and honeydew, cheesecake and red jello with whipped topping.

Overall we had a great cruise and were amazed at all the wildlife we were able to see close up. This is a great day cruise for anyone who enjoys wildlife and beautiful scenery.

Phone 907-274-7300 or 800-764-7300.

Reservations are necessary. Full-day, half-day and evening cruises are available.

Cruise Pricing (Subject To Change):

Full Day National Park cruise:
Adults: $119 Children 2-11: $59 Infants 0-24 months: $59
(Full Day cruise not recommened for infants)

1/2 Day Resurrection Bay wildlife cruise 12:45pm Departure
Adults: $69 Children 2-11: $34 Infants 0-24 months: FREE

1/2 Day Resurrection Bay wildlife cruise 6:00pm Departure
Adults: $59 Children 2-11: $29 Infants 0-24 months: FREE

Prince William Sound Glacier cruise
Adults: $99 Children: $49 Infants 0-24 months: FREE

Visit them on the web.

Top of Page