WWF Travel Blog

Brooke Edwards knows a thing or two about wildlife. As a former sea kayaking guide, rafting master and trail builder, the safari program director for Alaska Wildland Adventures has spent practically every day of the past dozen Alaskan summers fully immersed in nature.

Edwards could speak for hours about all of the wildlife she’s spotted over the years, but we asked her to merely tell us about the best five encounters from last summer on the Kenai Peninsula. In no particular order:

courtesy Alaska Travel Industry Association

In the path of a moose: “Behind the Kenai Riverside Lodge, we have an area we fondly call ‘The Back 40.’ Even though it’s only about two acres, the area contains a nature trail that winds around ancient cottonwoods and heads to a bend in the river – a great spot to see resident nesting eagles. Every spring, there is a mama moose who likes to use the lodge a buffer from bears, and she drops her twin calves in the forest right alongside the trail. Wanting to afford her as much space as possible, we rope off the trail while she raises her young.  However, she sometimes ignores the rope.

“Walking to dinner once, I rounded a corner and nearly knocked a newly born calf right off its spindly little legs. We stood staring at each other, while he mewed softly for his mother. I quickly hurried to cover, lest the mother moose come answering his calls.”

courtesy Alaska Travel Industry Association

An eagle’s eagle eye: “We were rafting the beautiful Kenai River, enjoying a quiet, peaceful stretch around mile six or so. Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, an eagle swooped down right in front of the boat, and with outreached talons he stretched into the water, attempting to hunt something. Unfortunately, he missed and quickly retreated. Once so, an ermine [a short-tailed weasel] emerged and continued swimming across the river, having narrowly escaped becoming prey.”

© Brooke Edwards

A killer time: “On one motorboat ride out to the Kenai Fjords Glacier Lodge, Dall porpoises played in the surf at the bow of the boat, racing the boat and teasing us with their quick, agile bodies. But no sooner than the porpoises had peeled away from their surf session, a pod of transient orcas came to take their place.

“We stopped the boat and cut the engine, letting the sound of the enormous bodies rolling under our boat amaze us. You could tell the males from the females from their six-foot-high dorsal fins. We snapped photos of their particular markings and compared them with a scientific website later to learn their names and relations to one other. In the pod we saw that day, we were able to identify five generations of killer whales.”

courtesy Alaska Travel Industry Association

Patience is a virtue: “After 2 ½ easy miles of trekking along the Russian River Falls trail, hikers are always rewarded with a view of the magnificent falls thundering out of the forest and over the rocks.  During the right season, you can see four-foot-long King Salmon leaping up the falls over and over again.

“During one such magnificent fish flurry, a young grizzly emerged from the woods and sat in the river on his haunches, periodically dipping his head underwater to scout for salmon that seemed to be tiring from their efforts.  We watched him until he was successful, in his awkward teenage way, pulling up a huge sockeye salmon with his claws and tearing at the flesh like it was a Fruit Roll Up.”

courtesy Alaska Travel Industry Association

Mammals on your tail: “Our glacier lodge’s unique locale affords us a special treat – being able to follow the tide to pull your kayak right into the upper lagoon. Icebergs rest on the shallow bottom and create an eerie setting to paddle through, with the glacial music of ice cracking, breaking, melting and moving.  On the way to the lagoon, it’s not uncommon to have seals, with their big curious eyes, track your progress. Sometimes they give away their positions when you hear a quiet sneeze coming from the back of your kayak. 

“After one such adventure, we returned to the lodge, hungry and tired from our outing. We pulled our kayaks safely on shore, shed our wet layers and retired to the lodge for steaming cups of tea to warm our bones.

“While we sat by the fire enjoying the cozy retreat, we looked up just in time to see a black bear trundling down the beach amid the colorful kayaks that we had just exited minutes before. What a perfect bear sighting – to be behind glass, warm and cozy, watching from the safety of the lodge.”

Have your own wild encounter on an active adventure on the Kenai Peninsula with WWF