Photo by: Cathy & Gordon Illg
Location: Alaska
PHOTOGRAPHY TOUR
Alaska Wildlife Landscape and Whale Bubble Net Feeding
- Personal mentoring and instruction from your two photography leaders, and your captain is an expert naturalist guide.
- Three daily excursions of photographing whales and wildlife from one of two private group boats, maximum 12 participants.
- Witness one of nature’s great events, humpback whales simultaneously launching out of the water, throat grooves bulging with herring.
- Watch the seawater come alive as gulls & bald eagles frantically converge, plucking leftovers seemingly from their open mouths.
- Included on the boats: wildlife booklets, binoculars, basic beverages and snacks, refrigerator available for your use to bring your personal packed lunch & drinks.
- Accommodations in SINGLE ROOMS on the Sitka harbor, credit given to those sharing a room, walking distance to downtown.
- Two days you will travel to various places in the lovely seaside City of Sitka. Examples include: Russian Orthodox Cemetery, Sitka National Park with its totem poles, Alaska Raptor Center, and Fortress of the Bear.
- Photograph sunsets from land and your private boats during the tour. Perhaps even the northern lights if weather and sun spots cooperate.
Region
North America
Destination
Sitka Alaska
Dates
April 8-14, 2023
Duration
6 days
$3895
per person, double occupancy*
*U.S. dollars based upon minimum of 4 participants. There is a small group surcharge of $300 if 4-8 participants. We try to accommodate travelers who request single accommodations, as well as travelers who are looking for a roommate. If a single room is requested (subject to availability), or if we are unable to find a suitable roommate, there is a single room surcharge of $Single Included.
Tour Overview
Sitka Alaska is an island community boldly living between the mountains and sea, where the arts flourish and an ancient native culture still thrives. Surrounded by rainforest, the residents share their home with brown bears, bald eagles and all five species of Pacific salmon. This is the place where wilderness and culture blend.
For the best of Alaska whale watching tours, the Bubble-Net Feeding Humpback Whales Tour is your best option. You will have amazing...
Sitka Alaska is an island community boldly living between the mountains and sea, where the arts flourish and an ancient native culture still thrives. Surrounded by rainforest, the residents share their home with brown bears, bald eagles and all five species of Pacific salmon. This is the place where wilderness and culture blend.
For the best of Alaska whale watching tours, the Bubble-Net Feeding Humpback Whales Tour is your best option. You will have amazing full-day tours as you witness one of Mother Nature’s greatest events. Capture frame-worthy images while witnessing this awe-inspiring group-feeding display that occurs as often as 70+ times per day. There will be whales, raptors, herring, eagles to name a few along with the expansive Alaskan landscape. Weather and sunspots cooperating, there may even be opportunities to capture the Northern Lights as they may be seen between August and April, when less daylight leads to darker night skies.
Your time in Sitka will be spent visiting the local historical sites and photographing the landscape. Sitka National Historical Park features a remarkable collection of totem poles carved by Native American artists that are placed along a well-maintained trail in the forest. The Alaska Raptor Center rehabilitates injured birds, mostly bald eagles, and releases them back into the wild. Depending on bear hibernation times you may visit Fortress of the Bear, which features a three-quarter-acre habitat for orphaned brown bear cubs complete with covered viewing areas.
What makes Sitka Alaska so unique is it is the only Southeast Alaska community that fronts the Pacific Ocean, hugging Baranof Island’s west shore in the shadow of the impressive Edgecumbe, a dormant volcano with a graceful cone reminiscent of Japan’s Mount Fuji. There are 9,000 residents of Sitka, which is marked by the picturesque remnants of its Russian heritage, including the onion-shaped domes and gold colored crosses of the beloved Saint Michael’s Russian Orthodox Cathedral.
Features of your vessels:
- A spacious heated cabin, restroom equipped.
- Deluxe comfortable seats for all guests.
- Large wrap-around windows for unobstructed viewing, expansive deck space for multiple perspectives.
- Great stability to ensure safety and comfort. Vessel is not wheelchair accessible.
What is Bubble-Net Feeding?
Bubble-net feeding is a cooperative hunting strategy that occurs within a group of whales. It is a complex, highly synchronized set of behaviors that involve communication and cooperation, demonstrating signs of high social intelligence.
To bubble-net feed, whales dive deep below schools of fish and use bubbles blown from their blowholes to stun and trap fish closer to the surface. One whale generally leads the effort followed by the rest of the group. The leader will usually be responsible for blowing the bubbles and the other members will surround the fish, following them to the surface by swimming in spiral patterns to keep the fish trapped.
Humpback whales are known as “gulpers”, which means they feed by leaving their mouths open, swallowing everything in their paths before closing their mouths, pushing water out through their baleen plates and swallowing whatever they have corralled. Their lower jaws extend out like bullfrogs
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