Wildlife viewing and necessity of excursions

My husband and I are on the Eurodam (HAL) at the end of July. Ports are Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan, Victoria, and a day in Glacier Bay.

Right now, we have two excursions booked - the Five Glacier Seaplane Exploration in Juneau and Sea Otter & Wildlife Quest in Sitka. The seaplane is something we both really want to do, but I'm debating the Sea Otter/Wildlife Quest in Sitka.

My question is whether it's necessary to book wildlife viewing excursions or if we'll see many of the same animals from the ship. I'm mainly interested in sea otters, bears (no interest in the Fortress of the Bear), whales, and dolphins. He wants to see the salmon spawning, but it seems the creek in Ketchikan should provide that. The tour says "guaranteed sea otter, whale or bear sighting" while I realize nothing's guaranteed from the ship.

If we skip that excursion in Sitka, am I going to miss out on sea otters? I'm considering canceling that excursion in favor of spending more time wandering Sitka on our own and using that money for something else.

Thoughts and experiences? I'm happy to be linked to another thread if it's already been covered but search failed me.

Seeing wildlife from your cruise ship is like watching the football game from the top of the stadium. Seeing wildlife from a smaller boat, like in Sitka or a whale watching trip out of Juneau is like being on the sidelines.

All of the things you want to see may be visible from your cruise ship. The question is, will you know when they are visible and will you see them.

The small boats and tours are more likely to say "Look over there - it's a bear" or a whale, or whatever. Not as likely to get that on the ship. In fact, a well-run tour will go out of its way to show you things. This past June, our tour from the Bliss up Endicott Arm actually stopped to view a bear that sure looked like a big rock, until the crew stopped the boat and told us it was a bear (and with binoculars, it sure was a bear). The cruise ship sometime after us went by the same spot and if the bear was still out, I doubt anyone pointed him/her out to the passengers.

If wildlife is important, do your research and pick a tour that will get you to what you want to see.

All of the things you want to see may be visible from your cruise ship. The question is, will you know when they are visible and will you see them.

 

The small boats and tours are more likely to say "Look over there - it's a bear" or a whale, or whatever. Not as likely to get that on the ship. In fact, a well-run tour will go out of its way to show you things. This past June, our tour from the Bliss up Endicott Arm actually stopped to view a bear that sure looked like a big rock, until the crew stopped the boat and told us it was a bear (and with binoculars, it sure was a bear). The cruise ship sometime after us went by the same spot and if the bear was still out, I doubt anyone pointed him/her out to the passengers.

 

If wildlife is important, do your research and pick a tour that will get you to what you want to see.

When we took the Sea Otter & Wildlife excursion in Sitka a few years ago, we saw a huge group (raft? colony?) of sea otters, humpback whales and a huge brown bear walking along the shoreline. Our ship's track never got close to the group of sea otters so I doubt we'd have seen them.

As you're entering Glacier Bay, and for the first couple of hours after entering, keep your eyes open for sea otters and sea lions, as well as whales. It's also not uncommon to see puffins flying swiftly just above the water's surface. Deeper into the Bay, we've seen bears and mountain goats on the sides of the mountains. And bald eagles are common, as well. Stay out on deck and keep your binoculars with you! Then, of course, there are the magnificent glaciers!

Excellent information - just what I was looking for. I really want to see the sea otters so I'm going to keep the excursion. But I definitely also plan to be on deck as much as possible.

Thanks!

Seeing wildlife from your cruise ship is like watching the football game from the top of the stadium. Seeing wildlife from a smaller boat, like in Sitka or a whale watching trip out of Juneau is like being on the sidelines.

I really like this analogy.

You are likely to see whales from the ship if you spend time on deck, but you will not get up close and personal with them. Juneau in particular is famous for great whale watching experiences.

If you have the money, I'd also encourage you to consider the bear watching/float plane tours out of Ketchikan. We did that a couple years ago. We enjoyed the short, 10 minute float plane ride (fun and checked-the-box, but not amazing) and spent a good 2+ hours watching wild bear fishing/feeding from no more than 20 feet away. It was expensive, but was an experience that I'll remember for a very long time.

Don’t know if you leave or end in Seward, but the best Wildlife viewing we have had in our two Alaska trips was the Kenai Fjords tour. It is about 4 hours, not booked through the ship so there is no markup, and we saw several different species.

The highlight was the whale that we could smell the bad breath of......he/she breeched about 30 feet from the side of the boat.

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Don’t know if you leave or end in Seward, but the best Wildlife viewing we have had in our two Alaska trips was the Kenai Fjords tour. It is about 4 hours, not booked through the ship so there is no markup, and we saw several different species.

 

The highlight was the whale that we could smell the bad breath of......he/she breeched about 30 feet from the side of the boat.

 

 

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Eurodam is a R/T out of Seattle

We sailed her last year and saw plenty of wildlife cruising thru Glacier Bay - bears and moose on the shore when entering and otters and seals in and out of it. Saw salmon in Ketchikan and Sitka along with eagles, as well as whales (in the far distance) sailing from Sitka to Ketchikan.

But I agree that seeing them from our verandah or out on deck is not going to be quite the same as it would on a small boat that is purposely looking for them. We definitely needed the 10x50 binoculars we brought

If wildlife is what you want to see up close, I'd probably keep the Sitka tour

Binoculars are on my list of items to order before we go. We also have a digital camera with strong zoom.

The sea otters (for me) and salmon (for him) are the top two "up close" priorities, so I'm definitely keeping the excursion and planning to see the salmon in Ketchikan.

There are so many options that I'm trying hard to balance the travel budget while maximizing the experience. It's not every day (or year!) that we get to cruise Alaska!

There are so many options that I'm trying hard to balance the travel budget while maximizing the experience. It's not every day (or year!) that we get to cruise Alaska!

Very true. One mistake I made on my first trip to Alaska was worrying more about the cost than the experience. I am all for saving money on excursions, but don’t let a few hundred dollars keep you from doing something you really want to do and will remember for a lifetime. The cost in both time and money to get back to Alaska to do something you skipped and regret is much more costly.

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The sea otters (for me) and salmon (for him) are the top two "up close" priorities, so I'm definitely keeping the excursion and planning to see the salmon in Ketchikan.

I've seen sea otters from the ship, but they just look like little brown logs floating by most of the time. Binoculars help. You are best keeping your excursion.

As for salmon, you may or may not see them in Ketchikan. We usually cruise at the end of July, and rarely see salmon running in Ketchikan. When we have asked locals, they say we are just a little too early. One trip a few years ago, we saw thousands of salmon spawning in Juneau, at the Shrine of St. Therese, but none at all in Ketchikan that same week.

As for salmon, you may or may not see them in Ketchikan. We usually cruise at the end of July, and rarely see salmon running in Ketchikan. When we have asked locals, they say we are just a little too early. One trip a few years ago, we saw thousands of salmon spawning in Juneau, at the Shrine of St. Therese, but none at all in Ketchikan that same week.

Thanks for the heads up on the salmon. I'll let him know he should look into it more closely.

Very true. One mistake I made on my first trip to Alaska was worrying more about the cost than the experience. I am all for saving money on excursions, but don’t let a few hundred dollars keep you from doing something you really want to do and will remember for a lifetime. The cost in both time and money to get back to Alaska to do something you skipped and regret is much more costly.

 

 

 

 

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The one thing we regretted not doing was dog sledding in Juneau. Yes, it was pricey (something like $1300 for the two of us) but we were also traveling late in the season and chances were that it would have been cancelled so we opted for whale watching/Mendenhal Glacier - didn't regret that back up plan one bit.

In general, the bridge will not make any announcements about wildlife sightings. In some areas, if you have a naturalist onboard and they are on the bridge (glaciers, Snow Passage) they may make an announcement. A naturalist told me that the “rule” for sightings is that the animal should be visible with the naked eye or no announcement. If you want to see animals from the ship you should be prepared to spend considerable time outside with binoculars.

Whales are difficult and ironically, the closer to the ship they are, the harder it is to see them.... I once saw a whale breach within 100 feet of the bow. At a ship’s speed of 20 knots, the whale was past the stern when it surfaced again. On the other hand, I watched a whale more than a mile off tail-slapping for around 10 minutes (binoculars required).