Bears & Wildlife Viewing – Trip Results!

Wildlife viewing was a high priority for us for our recent 3 week Alaska trip (1 week cruise, 2 weeks RVing). We got great advice prior to leaving on where and how to see wildlife, especially from BudgetQueen & Mapleleaves. We thought we would post our results so others can gain from our experience as a specialized ‘trip report’.

High priority ‘targets’ for us; bear, dall sheep, sea otter, & caribou. Whales and moose we can view locally so not as high on the list, and of course, we hoped to see a bald eagle our two. Happy to report we saw all of these and more.

Best advice received and to give: look, look, & look!

Look#1; it takes effort, and you need to go looking for wildlife and dedicate time if you want it to happen. Listen to the captain’s reports, park rangers, guides, and others – you are not alone.

Look #2; always start looking with a scan of the horizon for ‘anomalies’ with just your eyes (not using binoculars). Anomalies would be for things that don’t fit with the rest of the background (dark spots in green fields, blow spouts on the water, movement, etc.). Zoom in with the binoculars once/if you think you see something.

Look #3; be aware that if you see others looking at something on the side of the ship or road, . . . they are probably looking at wildlife so go figure out what it might be or go ask.

Binoculars: This is well discussed here, but, of course you need them. We took a pair each (smart choice, no sharing on this trip), both from Celestron (Outland X 10x42 & Nature DX 10x32). They worked great for us.

And Our Results:

Bears: we saw 5. First viewing was at Emerald lake where a mom brown bear and her 2nd year cubs were out. Per Look#2 above, I scanned the horizon getting out of the car and saw some very dark spots through some vegetation way on the other side, and the spots were moving. We watched the bears through our binoculars (probably ¼ to ½ mile away at first), and they proceeded up the hill to the right of the turn out on the road, and proceeded to walk along the ridge towards the Hwy before going over and out of sight. In the end, they were close enough to have a very good view with binoculars, and a few pictures that would confirm we saw the bears. Others on tour buses only got a few minutes at Emerald lake, so a rental car paid hugely here as we could stay and watch. Second sighting was along the Richardson Hwy going into Valdez where a black bear crossed the road directly in front of us, darted down the bank and out of sight. No time for pictures. :(

The last bear sighting was the best, leaving Denali NorthView RV Camp one morning and driving south on the Park’s Hwy, we saw a car stopped in the middle of the road (Look #3). We slowed down and I caught a dash of brown darting into the woods and out of sight. “I think I just saw a bear”. The other car drove away and we started to. Not wanting to give up so soon (Look #1), I turned the RV around, nothing seen on the way back. So, we turned around again, drove very slowly back and when we got to where we thought it was, my wife hollered out “there it is”. Sure enough, 50 feet from us, down in the ditch, eating vegetation. We pulled into the break down lane and watched for 10 – 15 minutes. Interestingly, each time a car passed by, the bear would pick its head up and we would capture a picture. Coolest wildlife experience of the trip (actually, of my life!). No need of the special bear viewing flight trip we were considering at the end of the trip after this!

Dall Sheep: Driving along the road to Whitehorse from Skagway, we came upon a turnout with a bus pulled over. At first, we thought it was simply one of their many photo op stops, so we only slowed down. However, looking closing, half of the people were looking up towards the top of one of the mountains (remember Look #3). So, we pulled in, got our binoculars, and sure enough, lots of sheep on the mountain. Pretty cool. This happened again later in our trip.

Sea Otters: we saw a number of singles in Resurrection Bay. However, during a Prince William Sound cruise, we saw many in what is referred to as rafts where there are many otters linked together doing what they do. This is pretty cool.

Caribou: Our only sighting was within Denali (which we day tripped and drove to the stop at mile ~ 15 on our own). Again, while driving, I caught a glimpse of a light colored object (Look #2) out in the vast fields. On driving a bit further, a car was pulled over looking at something (Look #3), so, we stopped. Sure enough, 2 caribou were in the field so we watched for some time. We finally continued, and the funny thing is, around the corner at the spot where we were to turn around, there were ~ 12 or so out in the field much much closer.

Whales: First night on the cruise, we went out to look (Look #1). After a few minutes, my wife saw a blow (Look #2). We watched with binoculars for only a couple of minutes and then it dove. Next afternoon, the captain informed everyone that we would be going through ‘Snow Pass’ at a given time and that there had been reports of whales in the area. So, off we went prior at the appointed time. What was amazing, on approach and climbing the stairs to one of the many observation spots, I saw a big splash and thought it might be a breach, but is was so far in the distance, I was not sure and there wasn’t any oohing or aaahing by passengers. As we got closer, it happened again and this time, there was no question what ½ of the folks just saw as a very loud cheer and applause went up after the big splash. Unfortunately, the other ½ of the passengers ran to the other side of the ship after the fact. Yes, there is luck involved in wildlife viewing too. We saw a couple of more whales later in our trip on our PWS day cruise out of Whittier.

Moose: With 700,000+ moose in Alaska, you would think it would be easy to see one, and if you are looking, I guess it is. We saw maybe 6 or so (all singles) as we were driving around. Two were very close, but hard to get a picture during a drive by or they darted back into the woods. We finally saw one across a field, and were able to observe for some time.

Eagles (Bald): I didn’t mention them, for I now realize that if you go to Alaska and return without seeing a bald eagle, well, you likely spent 100% of your time in your cabin. :) Seriously, there are so many and all over the place that I think they would be hard to miss.

Here are a few pictures of our luck – and would be happy to try to answer any questions.

Great review! I'm on a plane to Anchorage now, and hope for some similar wildlife sightings during our 2 week trip! Thanks for the tips!

Great advice! I will definitely be following it very closely. I love your pictures! Thanks for taking the time to post.

Excellent writeup.

Keith

nice shots for those wild animals

What an informative post! Timing is everything, but being observant is the key to success. Thanks so much for posting and sharing your experience. The photos are fantastic!

ent, etc.).

 

Look #3; be aware that if you see others looking at something on the side of the ship or road, . . . they are probably looking at wildlife so go figure out what it might be or go ask.

 

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As you say, if there are a bunch of people at the side of the road looking at something, there is probably something out there to see.

That said, I have often thought that it would be a hoot to park somewhere where there was nothing to see and get out the spotting scope and aim it at nothing. I wonder how many cars would stop to try to see what isn't there. I also wonder how many people would not be willing to admit that they can't see what isn't there so they would say that they saw it.

It would be an interesting but cruel experiment and I would never actually do it but the thought has crossed my mind at times.

I should add that your suggestions are excellent suggestions. Perhaps the one about patience is the best.

DON

As you say, if there are a bunch of people at the side of the road looking at something, there is probably something out there to see.

 

That said, I have often thought that it would be a hoot to park somewhere where there was nothing to see and get out the spotting scope and aim it at nothing. I wonder how many cars would stop to try to see what isn't there. I also wonder how many people would not be willing to admit that they can't see what isn't there so they would say that they saw it.

 

It would be an interesting but cruel experiment and I would never actually do it but the thought has crossed my mind at times.

 

DON

done that

somewhere outside of Whitehorse

i got to meet everyone that pulled over

all were good sports

they all "knew" that we were spoofs

we provided coffee and doughnuts and a peek through our binoculars

but the snowshoe hares were going through their fall/winter transition so there was a chance to see something

then we went to the hot springs

Thank you so much for the information and the pictures!

Heading to Alaska for the first time in July and I am in total research mode!