Alaska in June on Princess. Best stop & best tour to see eagle?

[TheArtfulPenguin]

I'm taking my daughter on a cruise to Alaska in June. She loves nature, especially birds.  I would really like to find the best excursion for seeing eagles.

 

Which port between Whittier and Vancouver do you think is best for eagles?

Do you have a favorite tour/excursion for eagles? 

 

Thanks. Steve.

[cr8tiv1]

Eagles are everywhere.  In Ketchikan, I saw them on totem poles.  In Juneau, I watched them teach their eaglets how to do hit (touch and go landings) the waters from my balcony.  
 

Anchorage has a wildlife sanctuary, but don’t think you have time to do that. 

[karatemom2]

Yes, you will definitely see eagles everywhere - be sure to bring binoculars - often you will spot them in the trees, looking something like little white golf balls among the green. In Juneau, there is a place called Eagle Beach where they tend to congregate and you can get very good views there. In Ketchikan, they are also abundant. If you want to see them up close and personal, I have heard that the Deadliest Catch Crab Fishing tour feeds them the bycatch at the end of their presentation which brings them in droves, so that might be a tour to consider for both the fishing aspect and eagle viewing.

[rustysunshine]

10 minutes ago, karatemom2 said:

Yes, you will definitely see eagles everywhere - be sure to bring binoculars - often you will spot them in the trees, looking something like little white golf balls among the green. In Juneau, there is a place called Eagle Beach where they tend to congregate and you can get very good views there. In Ketchikan, they are also abundant. If you want to see them up close and personal, I have heard that the Deadliest Catch Crab Fishing tour feeds them the bycatch at the end of their presentation which brings them in droves, so that might be a tour to consider for both the fishing aspect and eagle viewing.

Can confirm that the Deadliest Catch tour in Ketchikan offers great opportunities for seeing the eagles up close 🙂

[JimmyVWine]

Eagles in Alaska are as common as seagulls in most other places.  These were taken from our balcony in Juneau.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 19 by JimmyVWine

[wolfie11]

Hands down the best eagle tour is the Bering Sea Fisherman’s Tour aka Deadliest Catch tour in Ketchikan

[charliedalrymple]

We did a private tour (six people in a small boat) with Rum Runners Charters in Juneau.  It's called a whale-watching tour (2.5 hours), but they also bring raw meat to feed to the eagles, who swoop around the boat to grab the meat. Quite impressive.  (We did see whales as well!  🙂) Rum Runners starts early to get out onto the water before the big charters and cruise ship tours, so you can have the area to yourself for a while. We got some amazing close-up photos of eagles!  

[Essiesmom]

There used to be a resident eagle at the top of the Mt. Robert’s tram in Juneau.  It had been injured and couldn’t be returned to the wild.  EM

[Arizona Wildcat]

Don't laugh.  Best two tours for Eagles would be on your own.  In Ketchikan take the city bus to the Totem village.  Cost is a couple dollars.  The best place to find Eagles is near piers where people are cleaning their catch or town dumps.  Eagles are scavengers and as said can be found everywhere.

[cr8tiv1]

Not in Alaska, but this resident pair is in Big Bear, CA.  Unfortunately, this season, their 3 eggs will not hatch.  

 

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=big+bear+eagle+cam&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:6a5ede9a,vid:B4-L2nfGcuE,st:0

 

You daughter might enjoy watching the rest of this nesting season.  Come back next January.  

[TheArtfulPenguin]

19 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

Eagles in Alaska are as common as seagulls in most other places.  These were taken from our balcony in Juneau.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks.  What were you shooting?  

[JimmyVWine]

1 hour ago, TheArtfulPenguin said:

Thanks.  What were you shooting?  

Canon T3i.  For that trip I rented an "L" series telephoto lens, but I can't remember what the zoom power was.  28-300 is my best guess.   

[Cruise Raider]

Eagles in the wild are absolutely everywhere up in Alaska, as others have said.  But, if you stop in Sitka, they have a Birds of Prey Sanctuary where you will see all sorts of birds, as well as Eagles, up close.  Not all are caged but they wouldn’t be able to survive in the wild .. you can learn so much about them there and even look into their most beautiful eyes.  
Up the road a bit further is the Fortress of the Bear .. again, it is a sanctuary for bears that would otherwise be euthanized and you are the visitors up on platforms to their home so again, they are not in cages.  Such gorgeous sites! 

[DCThunder]

14 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Not in Alaska, but this resident pair is in Big Bear, CA.  Unfortunately, this season, their 3 eggs will not hatch.  

 

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=big+bear+eagle+cam&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:6a5ede9a,vid:B4-L2nfGcuE,st:0

 

You daughter might enjoy watching the rest of this nesting season.  Come back next January.  

Aren't they named Jackie and Shadow?  I've watched those videos on YouTube.  It's especially interesting to watch them in their nest completely covered in snow when the winter storms hit Big Bear.

 

I didn't know that the eggs are infertile this year.  That's a shame.  I did see that ravens had killed their hatchlings last year.  Nature is not kind.  😒

[Potstech]

19 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

There used to be a resident eagle at the top of the Mt. Robert’s tram in Juneau.  It had been injured and couldn’t be returned to the wild.  EM

Have a picture of that eagle as the desktop on my laptop. DW held a camera up between the bars to take the picture. It is one of our most cherished pictures from Alaska.

[cr8tiv1]

5 hours ago, DCThunder said:

Aren't they named Jackie and Shadow?  I've watched those videos on YouTube.  It's especially interesting to watch them in their nest completely covered in snow when the winter storms hit Big Bear.

 

I didn't know that the eggs are infertile this year.  That's a shame.  I did see that ravens had killed their hatchlings last year.  Nature is not kind.  😒

 

2023 and 2024 all eggs were not viable (ravens did not "kill their hatchlings".  Sad, just the same.  You can get quite hooked on Jackie and Shadow.

[smarterman64]

icy strait was the best for me. THere is a nest in hoonah and then saw a ton on the way there and back. 

 

also had eagles in captivity at the haines eagle center which i liked better than the eagle center in sitka. 

[dockman]

go to the city dump in juneau....loads of eagles there

[ukestrummer]

When in Juneau

you can see them out in mud flats at low tide in town

[DCThunder]

11 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

2023 and 2024 all eggs were not viable (ravens did not "kill their hatchlings".  Sad, just the same.  You can get quite hooked on Jackie and Shadow.

Thanks.  I stand corrected.

[knbcruisers]

We really loved the zodiac boat tour in Ketchikan....saw lots of bird life, excellent guide, and you get to drive the boat yourself ( shared among the 4passengers). Also excellent discussion from the guide about growing up in Alaska.  They have some fish to feed the Eagles to get them to fly close by.

[Mark_K]

There are eagles around all the time, but the best time for seeing them is later in the year when the salmon are running upstream.

[Jayaway]

I agree with the Bering Sea Crab Fishermen's tour n Ketchikan. Before our trip to Alaska last spring I asked my nephew about his cruise the year before and this tour was his hands down best tour he took. They take you to an area by boat, and as they come up, the eagles start to arrive. They throw out food and the eagles come from all over, grabbing out of the air, flying over the boat close enough to hear their wings, etc. Lots of photo opportunities! Then they start talking about crabbing & fishing, the Deadliest Catch show (which was interesting even if you haven't ever seen it), etc. They show you all types of "sea creatures" that are put back in the water, etc. I highly recommend this tour if your goal is to see eagles (and more).

[Outerdog]

On 3/20/2024 at 1:38 PM, DCThunder said:

I did see that ravens had killed their hatchlings last year.  Nature is not kind.

 

Not quite. Jackie and Shadow abandoned the nest after they determined the eggs were dead. The ravens came to the nest and devoured the eggs. They never hatched.

 

The same thing will eventually happen this year as well.

[desertdwellingsailor]

Saw eagles on the light poles in Juneau on the way to the Mendenhall Glacier. I was surprised at how many eagles I saw overall. Huge eagles up close in the Raptor Center in Sitka. Pretty cool. Sadly we saw no whales in Alaska (early May 2023). But we made up for it whale watching in Cabo a couple of weeks ago!