Capturing the Moment

  Imagine being on a small, 20ft inflatable boat, and having a whale the size of a city school bus come exploding out of the water right next to you. That is what happened today at Wachusset Cove, here in Southeast Alaska. From our anchorage at Iyoukeen Cove, we spotted a group of humpback whales over a mile out near the point of this long peninsula. This area is a hotspot for finding bubble net feeding humpback whales, so we put the normal morning plans on hold, in order for everyone to load up in our small boats and cruise out to find the whales....just in case it turned out to be a group of bubble netters. As with everything in Alaska, it was farther than it looked getting to the point. The landscapes are so vast, and the mountains so tall, that you lose all perspective of distance. When we finally did make it out to the point, the whales were nowhere to be seen. But not to be deterred, we kept driving, and driving, until eventually we ended up at a totally different bay called ...

  Whale watching can be pretty spectacular in Southeast Alaska during the summer months. North pacific humpback whales, who spent the majority of winter breeding and calving in Hawaii, are now here in Alaska for a feeding frenzy. Bubble netting humpbacks in front of the Safari Explorer Close up! I could see the ring of bubbles hit the surface just before the whales burst up from below with mouths wide open. Tiny herring leapt out of the whales' mouths Depending on the prey that the whales are feeding on, their strategies can be vastly different. If they are feeding on krill they can simply swim through the water with their mouth open, using their baleen-filled mouths to filter out the food. Things really spice up when the whales are hunting herring, a small schooling fish. When hunting herring, humpbacks will occasionally work together in a group, herding the fish into a tight ball, using a cooperative method called bubble net feeding. This is what we were lucky enough to stumble u...

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 ...

www.daimartamarack.com   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. 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...

    The hunting trifecta is an almost mythical goal to set for a trip to Alaska. This natural spectacle includes bubble net feeding humpback whales, bears catching salmon, and transient orcas taking down a marine mammal. Just seeing these three animals on one trip would be considered a lucky success. So you can imagine how surprised the crew of the Safari Quest was this week…when we got the hunting trifecta! Orca High Resolution Pictures   First on the list was the hardest and rarest of the trifect, hunting transient orca. Also known as killer whales because of their ability to kill other whales, this family of orca was hunting dall’s porpoise. We watched the speedy porpoise kicking up a rooster tail of water moments before a huge orca would appear right on its tail. The orca corralled the porpoise and let the young orcas chase them. They made it look almost too easy. The chase culminated in an orca exploding out of the water knocking the porpoise sideways in th...

   One of the greatest spectacles in nature is watching animals work together to hunt. I have seen a pack of 13 lionesses taking turns to wear down a huge bull cape buffalo, and I've seen orca making an easy meal out of a speedy dall's porpoise, but something gets me every time I witness humpback whales bubble net feeding here in Alaska.    I had heard reports of a couple separate groups of bubble net feeders working southeast Alaska but until last night I had been unable to locate them. When I saw 4 or 5 whale blows very close together I had high hopes, and it paid off. We took the Safari Quest in for a closer look and sure enough, 7 whales erupted from the water in a tight formation as the surrounding birds flew in to grab the fish spilling out of the huge mouths of the whales.   We stayed with the whales for around an hour before having to motor on south but the entire encounter summed up the essence of traveling through Alaska. Hear we had these a...

The Five Fingers Lighthouse Bubble Net Feeding Humpback Whales   The summer season is starting to fade here in Southeast Alaska. The days are getting shorter and a cool, crisp, nip can be felt on the air. However some vestiges of summer can still be seen, such as the vast groupings of Humpback Whales in Frederick Sound. The food source must still be plentiful because we are seeing large groups of humpbacks using all kinds of feeding strategies to get their fill. The group we had onboard this week brought some nature luck with them as they got to witness the holy grail of whale watching here in Alaska, humpback whales bubble net feeding.  Synchronized Diving tipped us off to come in for a closer look   The cooperative teamwork of humpbacks to corral their prey using coordinated movements was first seen here in Southeast Alaska. However we had not seen it on the Wilderness Explorer all season. I was starting to wonder if we would see it with only four ...