Whale Watching ??

[bonnie voyage]

We are making our plans for Juneau in May. In addition to the helicopter/Glacier viewing, we are considering a whale watch excursion. In the past we have gone on whale watching excursions in the Caribbean and in Hawaii. So we are trying to decide if we want to spend the money on this in Juneau.

 

For those of you who have gone on the whale watching excursions in Juneau- can you tell me if it was much different than in Hawaii/Caribbean? Most of the brochures guarantee sightings of humpback whales. Did you see any other sea life (orca's, dolphins, sea lions, etc.)? Thanks in advance for your responses.

[Budget Queen]

Do not count on any other whales. In Auke Bay, orcas are only seen, on average, every 5-10 days. You do get a look at sea lions, eagles.

 

Very chance sightings elsewhere of Pacific White Sided Dolphins and Dall's Porpoises, are the usual "quick" looks you get in transit from the cruise ship.

 

I'm assuming when you say Caribbean, this would out of Dominican Republic for humpbacks, in the winter and shoulders?? There aren't any other "whale" watching areas of consistant sightings.

 

I'm an avid humpback watcher, and go repeatively every year. It depends how much you enjoyed these other trips?? And how interested you are in seeing them again? You can NOT expect much difference except, the humpbacks are totally focused on feeding, which is a vastly different priority then your other two locations, where there isn't any food.

[MercedMike]

There are piles of posts on this subject. Search the boards.

 

We enjoy the whale watching, but there are some things you need to know about it. The spectacular pictures of whales breaching, jumping out of the water, bubble feeding and other activities are FEW and RARE. Almost always, what you will see on a whale watching trip is the spout, the rolling back and the flukes as the whale descends. Check out our review and pics at http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/alaska.html for some examples.

 

We like the large comfortable boats of Allen Marine, which does the ship's excursions. There are also recommended independent operators who have smaller boats. They usually know where there are good chances for other wildlife. The most common would be sea lions. We saw a whole island full of Stellar Sea Lions, and frankly it was better than the whales! Check out our trip report and pictures at http://www.bully4.us/volendam.html. Now and then a fleeting sighting of a dolphin happens. Also there are usually eagles in the trees, especially when the salmon are running. Once we did see bears but that is a pretty rare occurrence, I think.

 

To be perfectly honest with you, if you have done other whale watching, I don't know that you will get much different in Alaska. It depends on how much of a nature buff you are. BQ spends hours on deck looking for whales in Alaska. I spend minutes glancing out the window now and then :D Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks.

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[kathynorth]

We were fortunate and did see orcas + humpbacks on our early July whale watch out of Juneau last year. When we whale watched out of Icy Straight the year before we saw lots of otters in addition to the humpbacks. We've been on quite a few trips out of New England and I think the whales we saw on both our trips to Alaska were significantly more active. Also, on our first trip we saw 0 whales from the ship, but on the second there were so many we lost count! I guess what I'm saying is you never know what you'll see in the Alaskan waters!

[CruisinKiki]

We have been whale watching in Juneau three times. Two of the times were absolutely spectacular. Much better than what I have seen in Mexico. I have not been in Hawaii or Caribbean so can't comment on this. But, if you are at all interested then I would say to go. Of course, it is nature and you can't plan on what is going to happen. But if you are particularly interested in whales, you have to see them in Alaska. Just fantastic! We have had breaching all three times.

[bonnie voyage]

Thank you all for your input. Will have more discussion with my husband before making a decision.

[dinomac]

We're planning an late May/early June Alaska cruise... is this too early to see whales? Is there a "peak" month for whale sightings?

[Yukon]

We're planning an late May/early June Alaska cruise... is this too early to see whales? Is there a "peak" month for whale sightings?

 

I got this email from Kerry at "Harv & Marv's" yesterday:

"I also like to point out to those folks visiting our area in early to mid May of some observations we have made over the years. This time of year tends to be on the tail end of the whales return to Alaska following their migration. During this time there is a possibility that their numbers may be down a bit. But at the same time I will have to say that over the years we have learned, as is the case with any wild animal, that the whales are anything but consistent or predictable. We have tried to establish yearly and daily behavioral habits but soon realized there is none. That being said we have still enjoyed humpback sightings on 100% of our tours from late April to Late September."

[sylteach]

We took the Allen Marine tour for whale-watching in Junea last year. We saw 26 hump-back whales, eagles, sea lions, and a couple orca whales. It was awesome!! We did go in early September.