Seeing Eagles in Alaska

I will be sailing with Princess to Alaska for a Land Tour and Cruise. The cruise will be the usual stops (Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway). I was wondering if anyone can tell me of an excursion at one of these ports where I would have the best chance of seeing Eagles in the wild. I have seen many kinds of wild life but never Eagles in the wild. I will be going the beginning of June in 2018. Any suggestions?

I will be sailing with Princess to Alaska for a Land Tour and Cruise. The cruise will be the usual stops (Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway). I was wondering if anyone can tell me of an excursion at one of these ports where I would have the best chance of seeing Eagles in the wild. I have seen many kinds of wild life but never Eagles in the wild. I will be going the beginning of June in 2018. Any suggestions?

Welcome to Cruise Critic!!!

I will say in addition to excursions we spend hours on our balcony. We bring some 10X50 Bushnell self focus binoculars. If you don't have a balcony then hit the promenade deck and grab some chairs. We have a competition spotting the white heads of the Eagles we see in the trees on shore. There are hundreds. Even in port we see them! They are so beautiful! :hearteyes:

Try the zodiac boat tour in Ketchikan. We loved it. Small groups, everyone gets a chance to drive the boat and saw lots of eagles. Some very close as the guide brings some fish for them. You get great feel for living in Alaska from this tour. We had time to walk around town afterwards.

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I will relay the advice I received from a local on my first trip to Juneau.

GO TO THE LOCAL DUMP...

We took a van in Ketchikan aND saw,quite a few Eagles from the highway. Our driver was a local Indian and he pointed out Eagles nesting near the road

We saw a few Eagles from the ship going in and out of Skagway. We saw the largest number (a few hundred) actively catching fish during the Land Tour on the Mahay's Jet Boat Tour leaving from Talkeetna. This was in mid September of last year.

You can also see lots of eagles near the various fish processing places you may pass.

I saw eagles from my balcony in Ketchikan. Adult eagles were teaching fledglings how to water land. Fascinating...touch and go landings....First time I ever watched these birds in action.

Depending on the time of the year. Same place...walk up the creek. You will see wildlife and salmon swimming upstream.

You will see eagles everywhere, until you are nearly sick of seeing them.

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Bald eagles are everywhere in Alaska.

There's a marshy area along the highway in Juneau, on the way to the Mendenhall Glacier, were you will see dozens of them at low tide.

Keep a lookout for them sitting on top of poles, anywhere you go on land.

I remember one soaring along with the ship on our way into Ketchikan in 2012, practically right over my head. Still kicking myself for not getting a picture, but I was just so fascinated by it, that it never crossed my mind.

To see one up close, take the tram up Mt Roberts in Juneau, to the Raptor Center.

The on board naturalist's lectures were great. He told us to be on the top deck of the ship as we docked in Juneau. We stood on side ( starboard ) which we was close to tall ,full trees. I had my binoculars looking for white golf balls in the trees. I counted 13 of them. Of course I knew what I was looking for and I wasn't disappointed.The white balls were actually eagle heads. What a sight to see when they started to fly off !

Sali

These beautiful birds are everywhere and we never tire of seeing them!

We saw hundreds of them on our way from Anchorage to Seward. But for your itinerary, we saw about a hundred on this tour in Ketchikan:

https://alaskashoretours.com/excursions/ketchikan/bering-sea-crab-fishermans-tour/

The time of year matters. We went in June and the salmon weren't around for the eagles to eat yet so they were very hungry and the guides on the tour were feeding them from the boat. They were literally 5' from us and we weren't even holding the bait. You could see their nests too. Really impressive!

LOL when we lived in Juneau they were called "rats of the sky". They were EVERYWHERE. Yes, the local dump is a great place but you will see many, many eagles. They are pretty cool. Look at the tops of trees for nests. Take binoculars.

Ive been to Alaska 4 times and you can see eagles throughout the cruise. Bundle up and hang out outside and you will see a ton of different animals when the ship is going slow through the passage. Ive done a lot of different tours the Klondike summit drives into the snowy mountains and i seen a lot there, Alaska salmon bake is in the woods and we saw some there, seeing the totems we drove around and we even got to see bears, and crab feast tour also. But I think any tour or just walking you can be able to see them. Having binoculars and a good camera ready.

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You will see eagles everywhere. There is a small park on the water in Ketchikan where many eagles gather to fish. We also saw boats feeding them when we took a private tour with Harv and Marv in Juneau.

Look in the trees as well as the sky as the white heads on the adults stand out clearly.

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I will be sailing with Princess to Alaska for a Land Tour and Cruise. The cruise will be the usual stops (Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway). I was wondering if anyone can tell me of an excursion at one of these ports where I would have the best chance of seeing Eagles in the wild. I have seen many kinds of wild life but never Eagles in the wild. I will be going the beginning of June in 2018. Any suggestions?

In Ketchikan they should be lined up on the power lines like sparrows are here at home.

At least that has been our experience.

You won't have to take an excursion to see eagles in Ketchikan.

Mike

In Ketchikan they should be lined up on the power lines like sparrows are here at home.

 

At least that has been our experience.

 

You won't have to take an excursion to see eagles in Ketchikan.

 

Mike

Hey young man. :cool:

Hey young man. :cool:

I wish that was an accurate statement. ;)

Mike

Here a photo I took from the ship.

Have a great time.

framer

Wowsers - beautiful photo!

Fantastic shot Framer!! Talk about a birds-eye view :D

We've seen eagles right in town every time we cruised to Alaska. First time we went, we were walking down the ramp getting off the ship. An eagle flew right over us. You don't need an excursion to see them.

The Bering sea tour is a fascinating way to learn about crabbing. They also throw out food to attract the bald eagles so you'll see a ton early in the season (apparently the eagles are hungry before salmon season)