Capturing the Moment

  Whale watching in Prince William Sound has been interesting to say the least. The humpback whales seem to be far and few between. Maybe it is still early in the season. Maybe there just aren't that many ever here. We have been hearing sightings of bubble net feeding humpbacks from Southeast Alaska and even some from Resurrection Bay near Seward, but have yet to see it here. In fact, we havn't seen much more than slow traveling humpbacks whales, when we've seen them at all. But that is just the humpbacks... The killer whale sightings have been plentiful. We encountered at least four different pods of orcas here this past week. One encounter must have included over twenty orca. It was so amazing to see that many orca all surfacing at once. They were a bit feisty as well, with some sideways belly-to-belly swimming, tail slaps, and quick direction changes. They are always such a pleasure to watch. This part of Alaska has some of the most researched orca in the world. While on...

   It has been a crazy week. I feel like our guests have experienced more exceptional wildlife encounters than most crew does working all season. Alaska is definitely providing for those willing to step out of their bubbles and hit the deck running.     This week started off with multiple sightings of black bears in the fjord leading up to Dawes Glacier. Then arctic terns and harbor seals lounging about on ice flows. We ran across orcas back out in Stephens Passage, who led us to more orcas that were predating on a dall's porpoise. Then we found the early season motherload of humpback whales with another pod of dall's porpoise. Then after birthday celebrations in front of a huge waterfall at Red Bluff Bay, we entered brown bear territory. Here we had a close encounter with two young bears on the beach at our landing spot! They trotted off into the woods and used our trail (really their trail), to stay well ahead of us until venturing off into the forest. We awok...

Orcas from Water Level     Today was our morning to cruise for charismatic megafauna, aka really cool big animals, in the whale rich waters of Frederick Sound, Southeast Alaska. We were nearing a group of islands called the Brothers Islands which are well known for having a stellar sea lion haul out. I often like to take the small groups aboard the Safari Quest to these islands and then get a more intimate experience by loading into our small skiffs. As we neared the islands this morning however, I knew it was going to be a skiff ride to remember.    As we slowed down the Quest to load the skiffs the captain and I were both looking in the opposite direction from our destination islands. Sure enough there they were again, surfacing and heading our way. It was a pod of transient orcas, or killer whales. I can count the number of times I’ve seen orca from a skiff on one hand, so I was anxious to load everyone up. We quickly got all the guests ...

Stellar Sea Lions and the Safari Quest Sea Lion in flight Fluffy Sea Otter saying hello Brown bear eating some grass  Sea otters, moose, and bears, oh my! My first week back in southeast Alaska, and my first time on the new Petersburg to Petersburg itinerary provided a blast of Alaskan wildlife. And as amazing as the wildlife show was this week, it wasn't even the guests' favorite part of the trip! (See next post for more on that) Regal Eagle on its perch    Our wildlife list quickly grew over the week as the sightings and encounters rolled in. We had humpback whales and cute little sea otters, plus an orca encounter before breakfast on the first full day onboard. Lots more sea otters followed at the Bay of Pillars, including new moms with tiny fluff balls riding on their stomach. Pigeon Guillemot Playful orca encounter Orca and Iceberg   Not only did we have a beautiful sunset orca encounter with a lone big male on night on...

Sunrise Humpbacks Humpback Photos   After going a few days without seeing any cetaceans (whales), we got lucky running across a few humpback whales near Thrasher Rock in British Columbia. It looked like a mother with a yearling, maybe getting ready for the long migration south to the breeding area. While we watched the duo we were also basking in a beautiful sunrise. I guess this is why they call this part of British Columbia's coast the 'Sunshine Coast.' The colors and backlighting added a little uniqueness to an already magical encounter with these whales. Big Bull headed my way    It turns out that our whale watching for the day was not over after we left the humpbacks. A few hours later, close to the Canada USA border, I spotted the telltail tall black dorsal fin of an orca from a couple miles out. I couldn't believe my binoculars just happened to scan right over that area as it came up for a breath. It took another fifteen minutes for us to get...

Capable teeth of a Steller's Sea Lion  Often when we see Steller's Sea Lions they are acting as the top dog. However, there is always something bigger out there...as the old saying goes. And we found that something today. I could see it from far off, a large black fin cutting through the surface. This could mean only one thing...orca! Spy Hop   When we got nearer to the orca I noticed some weird behavior from our starboard side. It looked like something was coming up to the surface but not breaking the surface enough to show itself. It seemed to be sea lion sized in the amount of water that it was moving but not how a sea lion would normally come up for a breath.  Finally we confirmed that there was a sea lion in the vicinity when it darted right under our ship. The orca didn't seem to mind or want to follow it. They were getting very playful by grouping up together, spyhopping, and even breaching a few times. Playful Orca near the boat  The ...