This summer I have switched up boats in the UnCruise fleet from a 74 person vessel to a 21 passenger vessel. The smaller group size means a lot more personal encounters and even more flexibility. Take this week's whale extravaganza for example. While cruising through Chatham Strait we saw six or seven whale blows right next to each other before all diving down in unison. Shortly after the humpback whales simultaneously bursts up through the surface with mouths wide open through a ring of bubbles that they blew to trap all of their prey. This is called bubble net feeding and is amazing to witness. But with only 17 passengers this week we could take things to a whole new level.
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| Feeding Humpback Whale |
I made the announcement for people to head to the back, grab their lifejackets, and prepare to board the small boats. We have two rigid inflatable boats that can take 12 passengers each. We loaded these, along with everyone's camera, binoculars, and an underwater hydrophone to capture all the action above and below. We ended up staying out with the whales for over an hour, watching them feed over and over again on what must have been a huge school of herring. Every once in a while the pod would change directions and zoom by the small boats putting their true size into perspective. They dwarfed the small boat and the tiny people in them. In one of the pictures below it looks like the whale is actually splashing the boat with its tail but it is only a trick of the eye and a long lens.
From this close the tails can be seen in intricate detail. At one point I had to wipe my lens after whale breath wafted over the group. The sounds of the feeding calls through the hydrophone added a different sense to the already overloaded intake. And the real beauty of Alaska is that it was just us out there, on two tiny skiffs, experiencing one of the greatest wildlife spectacles on Earth.
I made the announcement for people to head to the back, grab their lifejackets, and prepare to board the small boats. We have two rigid inflatable boats that can take 12 passengers each. We loaded these, along with everyone's camera, binoculars, and an underwater hydrophone to capture all the action above and below. We ended up staying out with the whales for over an hour, watching them feed over and over again on what must have been a huge school of herring. Every once in a while the pod would change directions and zoom by the small boats putting their true size into perspective. They dwarfed the small boat and the tiny people in them. In one of the pictures below it looks like the whale is actually splashing the boat with its tail but it is only a trick of the eye and a long lens.
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