Serendipity -
the effect by which one accidentally stumbles upon something fortunate; especially while looking
for something entirely unrelated. That's the best description I could come up with to portray
the story behind this site. It truly has been “A Whale of an Adventure”.
Alaska Whale Watching Tours
Welcome to Whale Watching in Alaska; if your looking
for any of the scheduled whale watching tours along the coastlines
of Alaska you will find them listed by region and location. If your looking for more information
on Alaska whales, please read through the information below for the complete story about locations,
timing and something's related to what you can expect in the form of weather, seas and whale
species. Find out when would be the best times are to see
the various whales found in Alaska.
Alaska Whales
No vacation to the Alaska Coastal Areas would be complete without taking the time to view and
photograph the spectacular sea life found in the nutrient rich waters of Alaska. This is a Mecca
of marine life from our beloved whales to the prized wild salmon that thrive in abundance throughout
these waters.
Whale Watching Alaska has evolved into a information portal dedicated to the preservation of
the marine environment. Today information on Alaska whale populations, distributions and over-all
health of the various species is being added for your pre-trip reading. We also want to promote
environmentally responsible whale watching trips featuring gray
whale, orcas (killer whale), humpback
whale and the beluga whales. Also being listed
for the first time are some of the smaller more intimate cruise lines that offer cruises to Alaska
with an emphasis placed on sustainable whale watching. These Small Ship
Cruises are best known as Alaska Yacht Charter or Alaska Small Boat Cruise. Most of these
tours operate within the Inside Passage. Southeast Alaska Yacht Charters that normally have less
then 100 passengers per voyage are based out of Seattle, and Vancouver B.C.
Where and When To See Whales In Alaska.
Plan on a whale watching tour in the Seward, Whittier, Homer
Alaska area. Every spring, Gray whales migrate through the waters off Alaska on their way
to their summer feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi seas. In the spring, Seward AK Small
Ship Cruises include day trips that offer Gray
Whale Watching combined with marine life & glacier tours in Kenai Fjords National Park
near Seward, AK. These are great combo trips that the whole family is sure to enjoy. During
the early spring, you are likely to see the gray whales on their annual migration north to the
rich feeding and calving grounds of the arctic ocean. As summer progresses, frequent observations
of humpback, minke,
and orcas,"killer whales", are present throughout the
waters of coastal Alaska. Resurrection Bay in Seward, the many bays off Kodiak AK, Whittier
in Prince William Sound, See Map
of Prince William Sound, Glacier Bay and Icy Straight, and the Inside Passage around Juneau
Alaska. These are some of the hot spots for Alaska whale watching trips.
Alaska Whale Watching Tours listed by area.
Whale Watching in Alaska ranks at the top in the most popular tours for visitors to the coastal
regions of Alaska. Every summer their are dedicated tour boats taking visitors out whale watching
in Alaska from Ketchikan to Barrow. While Juneau is the top location for these tours, other cities
offer outstanding whale watching in Alaska too. Below are links to pages that list the best tour
companies in each area. Check them out and find the tour that's right for you.
- Southeast Alaska Tours The
area known as "The Inside Passage". Includes Craig, Elfin Cove, Glacier Bay, Gustavus,
Haines, Hoonah, Hydaburg, Juneau, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Sitka, Skagway and Wrangell.
- South Central Alaska Tours:
Gulf of Alaska, Resurrection Bay, Kachemak Bay and Kodiak Island Tours. Includes the cities
of Homer, Seward, Kenai, Kodiak, Valdez and the area of Turnagain Arm.
- Bering Sea Whales: Areas North
of the Alaska Peninsula. Includes the Alaska Peninsula, Aleutian Islands, Bristol Bay, Pribilof
Islands and Yukon Kuskokwim Delta.
- Discover the Inside Passage and Southeast Alaska through
one of the listed Alaska Cruise Packages and don't
forget to bring your camera along! Depending upon the season there are Gray, Humpback, Orca
(Killer whales), porpoises, seals, sea lions, & sea otters just a short boat ride from the
dock. Hike the spectacular rainforest trails of Prince of Wales Island, explore the islands
during a bear watching Eco tours by boat or vehicle. For bird watchers there are Bald Eagles,
Ospreys and Herons just to name a few. Back on shore, enjoy some freshly made dishes from the
bounty of the seas around you. This is not just a whale watching tour but a complete Alaskan
adventure.
Not unlike the Humpback whales that return to
Alaska each spring, the Gray whales migrate long distances
to the fertile waters Alaska each year. Thousands of Gray
whales migrate from their winter grounds in Baja California on their way to their summer
feeding and breading areas in the Bering and Chukchi seas of Northern Alaska. Each spring, an
estimated 20,000 Gray Whales will travel along the
outer coast of Southeast Alaska. If your along the coast of Southeast or South Central Alaska
in late March, all of April and well into May, plan on taking a guided whale tour to see this
spectacular event. Some of the best places to see Gray
Whales in Alaska include Ketchikan in the southern portion of the panhandle, Sitka located
on Baranof Island, both Yakutat and Cordova as well as Seward Alaska on the Kenai Peninsula and
the island of Kodiak Alaska. Spring whale watching tours are an excellent way to clean out the
cobwebs from a long Alaskan winter and kick off the summers excitement with a Seward Alaska Gray
Whale Tour in April and May.
See the Whales of Alaska: May
- September is great for killer whale viewing in Southeast Alaska and June - September is the
time to see the humpback whales that return to the Inland Passage of Alaska. If nature viewing
is enjoyable to you, consider the Bering Sea Crab Fishing Tour in Ketchikan. It's one of the
best hands on tours available with lots of marine life and the bald eagles will be landing so
close to you that their size will completely fill the viewfinder of your cameras without the
need for a zoom. Great tour for those arriving in Ketchikan on any of the cruise ships during
the summer. This tour can be booked through your cruise line, from your travel agent or on the
ship from the travel assistant available during the cruise.
Glacier Bay is
where whale experts first studied humpback whales "bubble-netting" or blowing bubbles
to herd small fish into a tight ball before feeding on them. Also prevalent in the Glacier Bay
are pods of killer whales, orcas, that patrol the entrance to the bay, while porpoises and dolphins
are commonly seen inside the bay. Best time to see whales is from June to early September.
Marine Mammals and Wildlife Cruises, view the large abundance of marine life in the cool clear
waters of the Alaska coastline. Steller sea lions, Walrus, Harbor Seals and more can round off
your whale watching trip. Alaska Marine Mammals include Bearded Seal, Harbor Seal, Northern Fur
Seal, Polar Bear, Ribbon Seal, Ringed Seal, Sea Otter, Spotted Seal, Steller's Sea Lion, Walrus.
Also See Where To See Alaska Whales
What is happening to all the Beluga Whales in Cook Inlet?
For years now the numbers of Cook Inlet Beluga whales has
been on the decline and even with all the research being conducted, the reasons still remain
somewhat of a mystery. From the once 1300 strong, today the population has declined to around
225 whales. Reasons for the decline are still unproven yet it is believed that a combination
of events could be a threat to the Cook Inlet Beluga Whale habitat.
There could also be other natural or unnatural causes that are attributing to the decline that
are yet to be discovered. What they do know is the numbers have become serious and one wrong
decision or accidental mishap could mean it's to late. The time has come to get serious about
this situation and get the trends reversed.
Cook Inlet Critical Habitat for
the protection of the beluga whales and benefiting all species of fish and mammals in these endangered
waters.
Alaska Whales: species that you may see include Beluga
Whale, Blue Whale, Bottlenose
Whales, Gray Whale, Humpback
Whale, Orca (Killer Whale).
The term whale is ambiguous: it can refer to all mammals in the order of Cetacea (whales,
dolphins and porpoises). For the purposes of this web site, Whale will be interpreted as being
limited to the larger of the Cetacean order of mammals known to the Alaskan coastline. Also
we will be limiting the term Whales to those cetaceans which are neither dolphins nor porpoises.
This can lead to some confusion because Orcas ("Killer Whales") and Pilot Whales have "whale" in
their name, but for purpose of classification, both are in the dolphins group yet we include
the Orcas within the content of this site mainly due to their popularity with whale watching
groups of Alaska.
NOTE: Pilot Whales are not found in Alaskan waters.
When is the best time to see whales in Alaska? What is the best month for whale watching Alaska?
The best time for whale watching in Alaska including Juneau and Seward plus Alaska whale watching
season and dates is covered in depth. 2017 Alaska Cruises and tours featuring Humpback whales
and Orca Whales in Southeast Alaska. 2017 Alaska Whale Watching Tours in Juneau, Alaska. Huge
discounts for Alaska Cruise Ship Passengers with discounts on the best whale watching times and
dates for 2017. |