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...

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 ...

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 ...

Glacier in the clouds Harding Icefield   Exploring Kenai Fjords When I was 22 years old I flew from New York to Japan in what seemed to be an ever-present sunset glow. As we chased the sun around the earth I glanced outside at a frozen land with what looked like frozen rivers running through it. 13 years later I find myself finally flying over the same frozen landscape on my way to explore the Kenai Fjords National Park in Southcentral Alaska. On this peninsula nearly 40 glaciers slowly slide down from the Harding Ice Field. If Denali is Alaska's crown jewel north of Anchorage then this must be it's crown jewel to the south. And now, after working in Alaska's inside passage I have a newfound knowledge and interest in these glaciers, icefields, flora, and fauna that encompass this amazing national park. Lazy Harbor Seal   In the icy waters surrounding the peninsula we find seals, sea lions, humpback whales, orca chasing salmon under our boat, and birds of ...

  We had two encounters with pods of orcas this past week as we traveled between Juneau and Sitka, Alaska. One of these encounters happened right around sunset, with the low light backlighting the blows of the big male orcas. I love seeing their 7-8ft dorsal fins straight up as they should be and not all flopped over like you see with orcas in captivity. They move so effortlessly and really seem like they know they are the true masters as the oceans' top predator.   I still haven't found a good visual way to tell between the resident pods that are here year round, and the transients that just come through on their thousand mile journeys. There are subtle differences but the biggest is in their diet. The resident pods feed only on fish, like salmon. The transient pods are the mammal eaters, so seals, sea lions, baby whales, can all be on the menu. It is pretty wild that such a top predator has never attacked a human in the wild.   Their complex communication and ...