Capturing the Moment

Pink Hues over South Baranof Close Encounters    It turns out that late July is a pretty good time to be in Southeast Alaska for humpback whale action. July and August mark the culmination of migrating humpbacks to the feeding grounds. The bait fish and krill are here in abundance which means so are the humpbacks. Lunge Feeding Humpbacks   After having spent many whale seasons in Hawaii, where these whales concentrate on calving and breeding instead of eating, it is wonderful to be on the flip side seeing all the different feeding behaviors. We had synchronized lunge feeding whales right next to the ship as well as a couple instances of bubble net feeding.    Guests realized how amazing an encounter these feeding behaviors were when the entire crew flooded out to see them with cameras in hand. I never knew the lunge feeding could happen so cooperatively, with two whales coming up side by side at exactly the same moment, with mouth agape and ventral pleats expanding

 Frederick Sound is a large body of water in Alaska's inside passage which acts as a confluence zone for all the water coming in from Chatham Strait and Stephen's Passage. A lot of nutrients are swept into the area which in turn brings in the plankton, small fish, and eventually the big charismatic mega-fauna. This is why we planned a half day of cruising and looking for wildlife in Frederick Sound.     We woke up to a good sign, not so far off blows of humpbacks. Things really heated up as we left our anchorage and venture out into the sound. Humpbacks could be seen for miles around with their hot, steamy exhalations lingering in the cool Alaskan air.          Then, as hard as it might be to believe, the humpbacks were upstaged. All of a sudden on the horizon a huge dorsal fin emerged out of the water. It was a pod of orcas heading our direction! We stayed with the orcas for a good part of the morning watching them interact with the humpbacks and at one point swim over

"Glacial Grey"   All season I have been hearing stories about the infamous Baird Glacier. Apparently as recent as two years ago we were able to drop passengers off to go hike up onto the glacial ice. But as the glacier gallops backwards in its retreat, it leaves the terminal moraine buildup with an uncrossable lake between it and the ice.    The first mate on board has been trying to talk me out of schedule excursions at Baird because of the fact that to get people up to the the landing area the small boats have to navigate a flowing glacial river complete with rapids and standing waves. But I was not to be swayed so I used my power to send the ship to Baird glacier on this week's trip.    Hiking to Baird Glacier    Since this was our first time here this season a few of us jumped in a skiff early in the morning to rocket out way up the river and figure our the logistics for the day. We made it to the landing point but just beyond that was a raging class

 What do you do when you are about to jump into frigid cold waters with ice bergs and glaciers all around?....you go all out. That is what I and many of the passengers aboard our Alaska adventure cruise did last week in Glacier Bay National Park. It takes the term 'polar bear plunge' to a whole new level.    This picture also encapsulates that fun energy that seems to permeate throughout our boat from the crew to the passengers alike. I like to think that I am a small part of that reason that everyone has such an incredible adventure but being surrounded by such an amazing crew and feeding off that energy is what makes the whole experience.    If you are wondering how this plunge went, I will only say that Alaska won this round. 

Tlingit Carving Margerie Glacier    This past week was my first trip into Glacier Bay National Park. This UNESCO World Heritage site is a 5,000+ square mile national park filled with some of the best glaciers and wildlife in Southeast Alaska. Over the course of two days we had people kayaking and hiking right next to a glacier, watching bears, orcas, and humpbacks, puffins and stellar sea lions, nature walks through the mossy forest, and taking in some of the most beautiful waterways I have seen. Wild Mountain Goat Johns Hopkins Glacier   We spent some quality time looking at Margerie Glacier and Johns Hopkins Glacier from the big boat, while getting up close and personal with activities at Lamplugh Glacier. It is pretty crazy for some of the veteran crew members to see Lamplugh glacier up on dry land when just over a year ago it was a tidewater glacier, with its terminal face out into the seawater. Tufted Puffin in Flight Stellar Sea Lion Haulout   The divers