Capturing the Moment

Sea Lions and the Safari Quest   They are big. Real big. Think twice the size of an adult male brown bear. They are the lions of the sea, otherwise known as Steller Sea Lions ( Eumetopias jubatus ). They are the largest of all sea lions (or eared seals), and named after the famous naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller. Airborne sea lion in Alaska    In the middle of Frederick Sound, a place known for whales, are a couple islands named The Brothers. Here a number of steller sea lions have set up a haul out, providing a great wildlife encounter. It is just the boys, fighting and barking at each other in an endless game of king of the hill. The females and pups are at some far off beach rookery.    Whenever the weather conditions are nice and calm we take to the skiffs for a closer look at the haul out. Once we get downwind the smell is unmistakable. The big males fight off the smaller ones for the best spots. Some of the younger ones playfully swim aro...

Me and Dirk ready for adventure   There are only two real ways to get around Southeast Alaska; a boat or a float plane. Boats here range in size from tiny fishing charters to jet boats screaming up shallow inlets to some of the most massive cruise ships on Earth. But float planes on the other hand are pretty much all tiny and not for the faint of heart. Due to a last minute guest cancellation, my buddy Dirk and I were able to score a ride in one of the smallest float planes that offers scenic tours. Huge Icebergs below   The tight quarters inside our amphibious ride could hand a pilot and passenger up front, with 2 more passengers in the back. The company is Pacific Wings and their pilots provide great commentary along the way. I found the windows were much better to photography out of since they weren't as curved and reflection filled as scenic helicopters I've been in. We were all excited to have a beautiful, clear day for this impromptu adventure. I made sure ...

Getting an insider tour through the native Tlingit village of Kake, Alaska.  First look at Kake, Alaska In the middle of Alaska's inside passage lies a village where native Alaskans have been living for thousands of years. The Tlingit culture has been going strong in the Kake region all this time partly because of the sheer amount of resources and food here, but also because of their ingenuity in harvesting and keeping that bounty through the long winters.  Settling for grass at the moment  The long winters also brought a bounty of another kind to this small community...a bounty of time. With daylight hours numbering close to the four hour mark in the heart of winter there was plenty of forced leisure time around these parts. That is when the weaving, carving, dancing, and story telling really took hold. This was the culture that we were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of this week on the Safari Quest.  Pulling up to the village of Kake, whose ...

  In awe of the glacial blue   It is the middle of summer which means Alaska is heating up, both in temperature and in wildlife sightings. And with all the kids being on summer vacation it is a great time to expand their world view with a trip to the Alaska wilderness. The Safari Quest is our smallest vessel in the fleet, with 22 passengers and 10 crew, making it perfect for an extended family vacation. The last three weeks have all been private family charters on the Quest. Not only has it been amazing to see families spending such amazing quality time together, but getting the kids unplugged from wifi and internet means the wilderness experience can really take hold.    Exploration Time   This week we had 9 kids on ranging from 17 to 5 years old. The activities ranged from bushwhacking past piles of bear scat, skiffing up rivers into glacial lakes, to kayaking around ice while watching a tidewater glacier calve into the water. Each activity p...

www.daimartamarack.com   It has been a year since I have seen bubble net feeding in Alaska. But this show took us all by surprise. Last week we barely saw any humpback whales at all. We had a few far off tails from whales on the move. So when I spotted a group of several blows all together I made sure we altered course to give the guests a better look. Turns out it was a good thing that we turned because right after everyone walked out to the bow to see them we saw the circle of bubbles forming.   What followed next was awe-inspiring. The entire group of whales erupted from the center of the bubble ring, mouths wide open, tiny fish jumping everywhere trying to get away. This was bubble net feeding, and it was happening right in front of us. Not a bad start for day 1 of the cruise.    We stayed with the whales as they continued to bubble net feed 11 more times. I was also able to deploy our hydrophone so we could hear the bubble net feeding as well. The ...

   As always with UnCruise, our itinerary leaves a lot of room for flexibility and inspiration. The group this week was really into glaciers after their opening day flightseeing trip over LeConte Glacier near Petersburg, AK. So our bold plan was to show them three glaciers on the last three days, all experienced in completely different ways.   Up first was Dawes Glacier. At the end of a beautiful fjord named Endicott Arm, a great tidewater glacier stands guard as it has for thousands of years. It slowly marches its river of ice down and through the mountains until ending in the ocean with a 200ft tall face that often calves great chunks of ice into the water. Here we took advantage of the calm, windless conditions to explore by kayak. We saw calvings, a shooter, and had a visit from a much appreciated cocoa boat serving hot cocoa with kahlua. Kayking through the ice and watching a glacier calve made the guests wonder what could possibly top this.   Next up...