Capturing the Moment

  Our kayakers and small boats hanging out with thousands of feeding sea birds with whales surfacing in between them. We were offshore from Castle Cape, taking advantage of some unusually calm offshore waters. One of the best parts of expedition cruising, is the amount of flexibility that you have to change the schedule and take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves. Earlier in the week we spontaneously canceled the evening presentation in order to load up our small boats and go skiffing in the middle of the ocean with fin whales. The sea conditions were so calm, and the whales so plentiful, that we had to take advantage. Today we pulled into a bay that we had never been to before. Its name is Hook Bay, named after a big rocky spit with a big bend in it. Since we have never been here before, my coworker Christian and I took a small boat out in the morning before breakfast to scout out different landings and hiking areas. We found a few places that looked great from ...

  The whale watching action has been incredible lately in Maui. The humpback whales are here for their annual migration to the mating and calving grounds around the Hawaiian Islands. We have been quite lucky the past few weeks with our whale encounters. I've snagged a few photos that you can check out here. I love getting as low to the water level as possible. It is a special feeling when you are looking up at a whale. This is a tail throw or 'peduncle throw.' It can be like the roundhouse kick of the humpback whale world. It is almost like a reverse breach, where the back 2/3rds of the whale comes out of the water. A fast shutter speed freezes the action of this powerful tail throw. A close up of the barnacles growing on the tail of this humpback whale. I sent this photo into the happywhale.com website that catalogs humpback whales based on their unique white patches seen here. This whale was last spotted in the Inside Passage of British Columbia near Princes Royal Island....

The whale action has been intense lately in Southeast Alaska. I've been traveling the waterways of Alaska's Inside Passage   on the luxury adventure cruise ship Safari Quest. I absolutely love getting people out with the humpback whales on our small skiffs. The low vantage point, almost water level, gives a whole new perspective of how big these animals really are. When you are in a small inflatable boat the size of a suburban, and you are surrounded by animals the size of city school buses you can't help but feel in awe of their sheer size and power. Today was one of those lucky days where we had so many close humpback whale encounters from the skiff, and the water conditions were so calm, that I was able to get a bit creative in my whale photography. We were able to position our skiff to view the diving humpback whale in between us and the Safari Quest. I always like to think about the backgrounds in my pictures to see if I can use anything to help tell more of a st...

    Fortune favors the bold…the early bird gets the worm…    Here at Uncruise it should read, ‘never let a little rain hold you back.’         It was a beautiful drizzly grey afternoon as we pulled into Steamboat Harbor in Southeast Alaska. We had just seen dozens of humpback whales out the window during lunch. The conditions in the bay were perfect for open paddle, but with whales just outside the bay and within striking distance of a skiff, I also offered up an impromptu skiff tour for the guests.      Folks looked outside as the rain drops gathered on the railings of the Quests. They peered around inside at the beautiful lounge, bartender mixing drinks, and the library upstairs looking particular cozy for curling up and reading a book. I got the skiff ready and waited for the incoming guests to gather up… and waited… and waited…      One brave guests showed up. And it w...

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 ...

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...