Whale viewing

[thshhh]

Thinking of doing Kenai Fjords Northwestern tour in Seward and possibly Prince William Sound in Whittier. Will we still need to book a whale watching in Juneau in order to see Whales? I know it is not a guarantee. But what are the odds? Cruising at the End of Aug.

[kamac56]

I know some of the whale watching companies have a pretty good guarantee of seeing whales. I will be going in aug as well but will take my chances of booking a tour once I get there and see what the weather is like.:p

[mapleleaves]

In Juneau the tours are whale watching tours ... the whale sightings are so frequent that a couple of vendors practically guarantee you will see whales.

The tours out of Whittier and Seward are not promoted as whale watching tours so you're taking your chances if that's a priority. Whittier tours are primarily about glacier viewing and wonderful scenery. It's not very common that people report seeing whales on PWS tours.

The Kenai cruises are wildlife and glacier tours. Many people report seeing whales on these tours (as long as it's not the Bay tour). Plus you see sealions, puffins, bald eagles, otters, sometimes mountain goats on the cliffs.

[Budget Queen]

Humpbacks are seen on 100% of the whale watch tours out of Juneau and Hoonah.

 

Kenai fjords is way lower sighting stats for humpbacks, not even 50% in my experience. (went out 3 times just in 2011). However, the resident orcas (which aren't really whales) are seen pretty frequently, with 100% sightings, for me, on the last 5 trips over 2 years.

 

Boat tours of Kenai fjords are varied wildlife, not whale watches. I don't give it a second thought to do both, which I also did in 2011, and will be on at least 2 whale watches out of Juneau, as well as Kenai fjord this year. .