In July 2025, Debra and I embarked on a grand voyage along the coast of Alaska, a two-week cruise aboard Crystal Serenity. We sailed from Vancouver to Seward and back, with port stops in Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Sitka, and Icy Strait Point, with a transit through the wild landscape of Hubbard Glacier. We had the time of our lives!
Click HERE to read a short introduction to our voyage.
This story, part of a series, is about our whale watching adventure in Juneau.
Click HERE to read a short introduction to our voyage.
This story, part of a series, is about our whale watching adventure in Juneau.
Juneau, Alaska (July 11, 2024) I’ve gone to sea to watch whales before, but this time beat all those outings…by a country mile! I’ll tell you why in a bit.
Debra and I booked a two-fer excursion—two activities in one tour. The Mendenhall Glacier and Whale Watching Photo Safari invited us to “step into Alaska…to capture Juneau’s top sites and abundant marine wildlife on the same excursion,” which began with an easy walk through the rainforest along the Trail of Time en route to Mendenhall Glacier. If you missed it, click HERE to read my story.
Our group of safari-goers—Debra, me, and 12 fellow passengers from Crystal Serenity—traveled a short distance from Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center to picturesque Statter Harbor on Auke Bay.
“Auke Bay is a haven for wildlife,” said Julian, our safari guide, as we neared the harbor. “Here you’ll find many species of animals, including Arctic terns and bald eagles, trout and salmon, harbor seals and sea lions, and, of course, humpback whales. The star of the show is different every day, but one thing I can guarantee—you will see humpback whales today.”
Debra and I were anxious and excited to start our whale watching expedition.
After we parked, Julian led us down the gangway and through the marina to a custom-built safari vessel, a boat “designed to get you up close and personal with the environment.” There, we met our captain, a young gent whose name was Salar.
Our group of safari-goers—Debra, me, and 12 fellow passengers from Crystal Serenity—traveled a short distance from Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center to picturesque Statter Harbor on Auke Bay.
“Auke Bay is a haven for wildlife,” said Julian, our safari guide, as we neared the harbor. “Here you’ll find many species of animals, including Arctic terns and bald eagles, trout and salmon, harbor seals and sea lions, and, of course, humpback whales. The star of the show is different every day, but one thing I can guarantee—you will see humpback whales today.”
Debra and I were anxious and excited to start our whale watching expedition.
After we parked, Julian led us down the gangway and through the marina to a custom-built safari vessel, a boat “designed to get you up close and personal with the environment.” There, we met our captain, a young gent whose name was Salar.
Our boat had a sheltered cabin to keep us dry if it rained (it didn’t…rain, that is), and large panel windows to provide unrestricted views from which to see and photograph marine and other wildlife.
“We’ll keep the windows open as much as possible,” Salar said. “And if you are adventurous, feel free to step onto the platform at the front of the boat.”
I was and I did…and got some of my best photos from that vantage point.
Salar reviewed a short list of rules—things we needed to abide by as passengers on board his boat. He ended by saying, “We will not approach whales within 100 yards for their safety and wellbeing...but from time to time, a whale may get closer to us.” And with a smile he added, “If one should get close enough to touch…don’t!”
“We’ll keep the windows open as much as possible,” Salar said. “And if you are adventurous, feel free to step onto the platform at the front of the boat.”
I was and I did…and got some of my best photos from that vantage point.
Salar reviewed a short list of rules—things we needed to abide by as passengers on board his boat. He ended by saying, “We will not approach whales within 100 yards for their safety and wellbeing...but from time to time, a whale may get closer to us.” And with a smile he added, “If one should get close enough to touch…don’t!”
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As we left the harbor, I spotted a bald eagle perched atop a channel marker. My photo won’t win any awards—after all, I snapped it from inside the boat looking out through a closed window—but there was the eagle in all its glory, evidence I saw my country’s national bird and symbol.
Salar gunned the engine once we cleared the harbor, and our vessel shot out into the bay, where we saw…many more whale watching tour boats. But it wasn’t long before Salar called out, “Whale at one o’clock.” Sure enough, when I looked in that direction I saw the tell-tale sign of a couple of whales—the spout, known as the ‘blow,’ from a couple of humpback whales. |
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“The blow is condensed water vapor,” Julian said, “created by the whale when it surfaces and takes a breath.”
I searched the surface of the waters around us, snapping pics each time I spotted a whale—always, it seemed, I was a bit too slow on the click—until I captured the dorsal fin of a humpback whale as it dove below the surface of the water. Now, I thought, if I could just get a ‘tail shot,’ I’d think I’d died and gone to heaven. Over the next hour or so, as we ‘hunted’ humpbacks, Julian shared information about these whales—they originated almost 900,000 years ago—with us, including: |
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- Their name comes from the distinctive hump on their back.
- On average, adults are 50 feet long and weigh up to 40 tons, which makes them one of the largest marine mammals.
- They are known for their acrobatic behavior, which includes breaching—leaping out of the water—and tail slapping.
- Humpback whales are migratory creatures that can travel up to 10,000 miles in a roundtrip as they migrate between their two ‘homes’—nutrient-rich polar waters to feed in from spring to fall and tropical waters to breed and give birth in winter months and.
- They hunt using bubbles.
I’ll come back to this last point later in my story.
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Soon I got the shot I had hoped for—the tail of a whale. Not just one tail…but two.
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While humpbacks are known for tail slapping on the surface, there’s something else about their tails that was of greater interest to me: The tail, which is called a fluke, is like a fingerprint, with markings of black and white pigmentation unique to each whale. Julian shared a binder of whale’s tails—all the tails that had been photographed and catalogued over the past years, with no two alike.
Absolutely fascinating, I thought
It was late afternoon when we took to the water, and an hour or so later, late afternoon morphed into early evening. It was nearly time to turn back to Statter Harbor, as we were due onboard the Serenity at 7PM.
“I can’t believe this,” I heard Salar shout. “Look towards shore off the starboard side, about 3 o’clock. Those whales are bubble-net hunting!”
Absolutely fascinating, I thought
It was late afternoon when we took to the water, and an hour or so later, late afternoon morphed into early evening. It was nearly time to turn back to Statter Harbor, as we were due onboard the Serenity at 7PM.
“I can’t believe this,” I heard Salar shout. “Look towards shore off the starboard side, about 3 o’clock. Those whales are bubble-net hunting!”
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Julien added, “It’s rare to witness this behavior,” and then he described what it was. Here’s the gist of what he said.
“It’s a cooperative hunting strategy used by humpback whales,” he said. “One or more whales will dive below a school of krill or fish, while others position themselves at various levels around the school. The whales that dove release bubbles that spiral upward to create a cylinder of bubbles that act like a net to trap their prey. And then the whales gorge on large quantities of krill or fish as they swim through the bubble net with their mouths wide open.” (As an aside, a humpback whale can consume up to a ton of krill or fish in a single day!) |
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Although we were far from the whales—and had to accept as true, rather than see, much of what Julian described, it was easy to appreciate this remarkable display of cooperative behavior amongst this group of whales.
What a fitting way to end our whale watching expedition, I thought.
As I said at the front end of my story, this outing beat all the other whale watching excursions I’ve been on. I cannot say with certainty how many humpback whales we saw this day, but if I had to hazard a guess—and I will—I’d say somewhere it was between a dozen and 20. It was incredible!
What a fitting way to end our whale watching expedition, I thought.
As I said at the front end of my story, this outing beat all the other whale watching excursions I’ve been on. I cannot say with certainty how many humpback whales we saw this day, but if I had to hazard a guess—and I will—I’d say somewhere it was between a dozen and 20. It was incredible!
We were back aboard the Serenity at the appointed time, and within the hour Debra and I were seated for dinner at Waterside Restaurant. We were of like mind when it came to our entrees—both of us ordered English roast beef, which was outstanding.
Much of our dinner conversation centered on—no surprise—our photo safari by land and by sea…the things we saw and the memories we made. Both activities exceeded our expectations, and in doing so, set the bar high for our next port of call—Skagway, “The Gateway to the Klondike. I look forward to sharing our experiences there with you in my next story.
Much of our dinner conversation centered on—no surprise—our photo safari by land and by sea…the things we saw and the memories we made. Both activities exceeded our expectations, and in doing so, set the bar high for our next port of call—Skagway, “The Gateway to the Klondike. I look forward to sharing our experiences there with you in my next story.