Specifics on whale-watching in Juneau?

[FinallyAlaska]

I would be really grateful if some people who have done a whale-watching excursion in Juneau could describe what exactly it is you get to watch. I understand that companies like Harv and Marv, and Orca, will take you out to where the whales are, and pretty much guarantee that you will see one, but I am wondering what you are likely to see--the whole whale or just evidence of the whale when it comes up to breathe? Or something else?

 

Thanks!

[dustyroad]

there is no way too guarentee you will see a whale breach too see the whole thing, i have seen all parts of the whale but not a breach everytime. know one can read the whales mind that you come across too know what they are going too do. go with a realistic view that you will see a whale and if they breach and jump out of the water that is a plus. but no matter what part you see it will be worth the trip. :)

[rjm11]

when the humpbacks come up to breathe, you see a large portion of their rounded back (hence the name I guess!), and after they are at the surface breathing/feeding for a while, you might see one dive down... this is where they show their tails. After they dive, it can be up to 20 min. or so before they come back up. We never saw one breach (where they jump totally out of the water), but the backs and tails were exciting enough! There were many where we were... maybe 6 or 7, all breathing and diving. Even my young kids could see them and enjoy them.

 

We went with Harv and Marv and had a wonderful experience. There are lots of pictures on their website to give you an idea of what you might see.

[chipmaster]

You go out on a boat, for the private / indendent a boat with 6-15 or so people, versus the much larger boats for the cruiseline. The second picture shows what the cruisline boat looks like. They were lucky there that they got that close. By law you can't approach the whales with motors going. But if you idle drift and are lucky they could surface close.

 

You than get 60-90' out there looking for whales. They are out there, since its wildlife sometimes you get multiple sightings sometimes only one. They gurantee sightings as for sure you'll likely see them.

 

Now what you see varies, these are wild animals and not seaworld.

 

Best case you get close and catch them coming up to breath, catch the fluke in the iconic dive. The other iconic shot of breaching whales happens much rarer in Alaska. Its a physical impossibility to see the "whole" whale :D FWIW to get close and even glimpse these can at first sound boring but the chase, excitment and wait and the few seconds glimpse IMHO is worth it. As another poster noted they wonderful animals can dive and be under for 15-20' and travel a good mile or so before surfacing so you could be doing a lot of chasing and watching from the distance and waiting and waiting. If you want pictures you need to have a big long lens, very fast to focus and snap. All my children enjoyed the chase and even the wait than the few seconds of viewing.

 

Find attached a few pictures of what you might expect. The breeching whale is a rare sight!

 

I would be really grateful if some people who have done a whale-watching excursion in Juneau could describe what exactly it is you get to watch. I understand that companies like Harv and Marv, and Orca, will take you out to where the whales are, and pretty much guarantee that you will see one, but I am wondering what you are likely to see--the whole whale or just evidence of the whale when it comes up to breathe? Or something else?

 

Thanks!

[Toyz711]

mostly you will see blows, backs and tails. if you get lucky, i didn't, you get to see a feeding. we had 2 humpbacks..that stayed with us for along time. then some sea lions came along and we got a show...sea lions like to play with humpbacks, but humpback don't like to play with sea lions. lots of tail flipping and fin dancing...had one, spot, surface in front of the boat and flip water, but it was raining and we get didn't get a good look at him.

not like hawaii where we had male humbacks chasing each other and coming up along the boat.

it's alaska, it's real and anything can happen. expect to see blows, backs and tails...anything else will be a plus.

[CruiserN1]

Has anyone ever done the whale watching/Mendenhall glacier combo with Dolphin jet boat tours? We are looking at that one for our stop in Juneau and would love some info from anyone who has ever been out with them.

[AlanAllyn]

We also saw sea lions (groups and one by itself) and the dorsil fin of a whale.

 

We were with Orca Enterprises -- about 30 people on the boat with lots of room to move around.

 

I tried to upload pictures but I don't think it worked.

 

Alan

[GreeniePrincess]

Has anyone ever done the whale watching/Mendenhall glacier combo with Dolphin jet boat tours? We are looking at that one for our stop in Juneau and would love some info from anyone who has ever been out with them.

 

My husband and I did the combo in late May 2009 through Princess, who I believe used Dolphin jet boat tours. We felt we had ample time to see the glacier (we didn't plan on doing any heavy hiking) and really enjoyed the whale watching. that was the only cold and rainy day we had during our entire cruise, which made the ride out to the whales very cold (I probably should have dressed a bit warmer; my fault), but we were fortunate enough to find a baby humpback who not only played with a few sea lions, but also breached multiple times! We got some amazing pictures... until his mom came back and told him to settle down :) We didn't see too many whales on the excursion, maybe 3 or 4, but that was mainly due to spending so much time with the baby humpback.

 

That being said, we were VERY lucky. You will sometimes see bubble netting if you get the right time of year, right day, and right hour. I have been whale watching on the east cost of the US prior to this trip and it was exciting just to see the tail flukes and giant blows! Alaska was my husband's first experience with whale watching and he definitely wasn't disappointed, but don't go expecting to see a whale breach. Also, keep an eye out from the ship; we saw nearly as many humpbacks from our cruise ship as we did whale watching that day. The ones we saw from the cruise ship were slapping their pectoral fins over and over again... but they were quite a distance away.

[Ba' Datz]

If as I have read one can see numerous whales while in Glacier Bay, (I might be wrong), does it still make sense to go on a private whale watching excursion in Juneau?

 

I know that you are much closer to the action, but is the experience that different?

[rjm11]

for us the experience was MUCH different than Glacier Bay.... you just can't compare being in the small ship, basically water level with the whales in Juneau, to seeing them from the ship. We saw MANY from the cruise ship (almost daily), and while it was exciting, it always had that somewhat distant feel to it. Of course mostly we were seeing them from our upper level balcony, so maybe if we were down on a lower deck it would be more "impressive", but while I thoroughly enjoyed seeing them from the ship, seeing them from the small boat was just indescribable.

[Toyz711]

If as I have read one can see numerous whales while in Glacier Bay, (I might be wrong), does it still make sense to go on a private whale watching excursion in Juneau?

 

I know that you are much closer to the action, but is the experience that different?

 

on the ship, you are looking from 12 decks up...without good binculars you won't see details. just the blow and maybe a dark shape, in most cases. we did see some blows, in the area outsite glacier bay, when we left the area...most too far away. nothing close to the ship.

very different form viewing at water level.

[dustyroad]

on the ship, you are looking from 12 decks up...without good binculars you won't see details. just the blow and maybe a dark shape, in most cases. we did see some blows, in the area outsite glacier bay, when we left the area...most too far away. nothing close to the ship.

very different form viewing at water level.

 

i have been to alaska 4 times and have never seen a whale from the ship. if one did come up i was either on the wrong side of the ship or somewhere else that i didnt see him. a private tour is the best way too see them. plain and simple, the money for a whale tour is well worth it.

[InternetAgeTraveler]

If as I have read one can see numerous whales while in Glacier Bay, (I might be wrong), does it still make sense to go on a private whale watching excursion in Juneau?

 

I know that you are much closer to the action, but is the experience that different?

The majority of whales in the Glacier bay area will be early morning and late afternoon as you enter and leave the bay. While a few may travel further, the food supply is much more abundant at the entrance. And here you will typicallty see them at quite a distance and problably not headed your direction.

 

In Juneau, the boat drivers will go where they need to give you the best chance of seeing them and go out of thier way to ensure you enjoy it. Plus, since many of the whales are known by the naturalists, you also find out interesting details about them.

 

As a comparison, this is a picture I took of a whale on our last trip (yes its there, the black dot almost in the center).

 

 

and this is one when we went out in Juneau with Orca enterprises (this is Sasha)

 

[travelbug11]

Here's my whale pix taken when I went with Orca whom I've been out with a dozen times. Capt. Larry's boat hold up to 40 and he has great guides. Always see lots of whales - sealions eagles...... You can be inside, out in the back or on top of the boat. They will also drop you at Mendenhall Glacier after the whale watch and pick you up an hour later.

[GreeniePrincess]

Agreed... even if you are lucky enough to see whales from the cruise ship, they are far away and usually unimpressive. The best way to see them is on a smaller boat up close where you can appreciate their enormous size and feel the spray from the blowhole :D

[Ba' Datz]

I'm convinced.

 

Thanks for the info and support of my decision.