Danelle and I have gone on whale watching excursions in the past. I don't remember them very well, in large part because we didn't see many whales and the ones we did see didn't really do anything memorable. That's nature, though. I get it.
Undaunted, we booked another whale watching trip with Alaska Charters & Adventures last month while on a summer cruise. Would this time be any better?
In a word, yes!
We headed southwest out of Wrangell and didn't even reach our planned destination before we saw whale activity -- a Humpback tail!
I didn't realize that the underside of a Humpback tail looks somewhat like a giant alien staring at you. The markings are apparently distinctive like human fingerprints and can be used to identify individual whales.
After closing its massive mouth the whale would slowly sink back below the surface.
Did I say whale? I meant whales. It was crazy how close to shore they were. Clearly the land drops off pretty steeply!
When they flipped their tails in sync, it was a real treat.
Do whales have fun? Because it sure seemed like some of the splashing around they were doing was pretty fun.
We eventually figured out there were three whales in all -- possibly a bull, cow, and calf. And they were bubble-net feeding! Our captain gave us helpful hints of things to look for to have a better sense of when and where they would surface to grab a mouthful -- bubbles on the surface, and birds circling the area. I never got every good at accurately predicting them, but I was right on the spot for this moment.
The giant creatures don't stay above water for long. I guess I don't really know why they would.
We never did make it to our planned destination. Why bother, when these three were quite content to put on an extended show? So we trailed them down the coast for more than two hours before eventually heading back to port.
Finally, a memorable whale watch! Many thanks to Alaska Charters & Adventures for making it happen!
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