Kayaking with Humpback Whales in Alaska

  Kayaking is one of my favorite way to get out and really experience Southeast Alaska. I have found waterfalls to kayak under, towering rock arches to kayak through, and wonderful animal encounters. Sitting at water level gives you such an intimate perspective for experiences all of these sights. This last trip provided one of these memorable experiences at a place called Halleck Harbor.

That is the tip of my kayak in the foreground

  Halleck Harbor was one of the few places where we were still having good luck finding the remaining humpbacks here in Alaska. It seems that most of them have headed south for the winter like all the cruise ships. Even though Halleck was way south of our normal cruising path for the Sitka to Juneau run we wanted to make a run for it just in case the whales were still there. It was a gamble that paid off huge!

  Not only did people get to see whales, but they got great encounters while drifting out in the bay on small skiffs and on kayaks. I led a kayak tour where we watched one whale darting all over the place lunge feeding for food at the surface. We never knew where he would come up next. The water was flat calm and only a slight bulge at the surface would show before the giant head of the whale exploded from the water, with mouth wide open, in its feeding behavior.

  The guests were all excited with watching a whale from this angle, although the joy turned to nervousness when the whale seemed to turn in our direction. I didn't think too much of it until the whale lunged out of the water about twenty feet in front of me, open mouthed, right towards one of the guest's kayaks. The wake from the whale hit our kayaks almost immediately. I was a little worried that the whale might come up under our kayak group on its next surfacing but instead it surfaced about 800 yards away. It was one of those experiences that stand out above the rest for kayaking with whales in Alaska.