Wildlife question

[Herfnerd]

Was speaking with an acquaintance the other day and we told him we booked our Alaskan cruise with HAL for the first week of September, 2017. He mentioned that they had cruised RCCL the last week of August a few years back and lamented the fact that all the wildlife had pretty much migrated north (?). They did see some birds, a couple of whales and seals, though.

 

Just curious as to whether this is true or is he just BS'ing us?

[TheCalicoCat]

You are sailing too late for bears & salmon.

 

The rest I think are a crap shoot.

 

On CC, I've seen photos where people saw sea lions (seals) & otters - we didn't see any of those animals on our early June cruise.

 

On our next AK cruise we chose July so that we could see bears & we are taking excursions that are aimed at wildlife. (It is doubtful that you will see wildlife while zip lining or on a train - IMHO.)

[eandj]

Did your friend go deep into Denali Park? Those we talked to on our cruise (3 weeks ago) saw no animals but a few birds and ground squirrels when they did the short 23 mile tour. We did the longer 8 hour trip in and saw grizzlies, moose, caribou, dahl sheep and while whale watching saw 6 orcas as well as 8 humpbacks bubble feeding several times. We were happy.

 

Opportunities are there I think if you are in the right place.

[Kamloops50]

Was speaking with an acquaintance the other day and we told him we booked our Alaskan cruise with HAL for the first week of September, 2017. He mentioned that they had cruised RCCL the last week of August a few years back and lamented the fact that all the wildlife had pretty much migrated north (?). They did see some birds, a couple of whales and seals, though.

 

Just curious as to whether this is true or is he just BS'ing us?

 

Anytime during the season , the amount of wildlife varies.

[Glaciers]

Did your friend go deep into Denali Park? Those we talked to on our cruise (3 weeks ago) saw no animals but a few birds and ground squirrels when they did the short 23 mile tour. We did the longer 8 hour trip in and saw grizzlies, moose, caribou, dahl sheep and while whale watching saw 6 orcas as well as 8 humpbacks bubble feeding several times. We were happy.

 

Opportunities are there I think if you are in the right place.

 

The park service did a study several years ago that showed a majority of the wildlife sightings from mile 30 and beyond. Getting to the Eielson Visitor Center, or beyond, is important.

[dd likes to cruise]

Just last Saturday (Sept 3rd) in Denali we saw - Moose, Cariboo, Sheep, Bear, eagles, and other birds etc. Going to depend on weather of course and can't figure that out in advance. By the way we had a beautiful week and saw Denali Fri, Sat, and Sun.

[gpb11]

On CC, I've seen photos where people saw sea lions (seals) & otters - we didn't see any of those animals on our early June cruise.

 

On our next AK cruise we chose July so that we could see bears

 

In early June this year we saw plenty of sea lions and otters. Also saw bears in Denali and on the bus ride back down from Carcross.

[Budget Queen]

You are sailing too late for bears & salmon.

 

The rest I think are a crap shoot.

 

On CC, I've seen photos where people saw sea lions (seals) & otters - we didn't see any of those animals on our early June cruise.

 

On our next AK cruise we chose July so that we could see bears & we are taking excursions that are aimed at wildlife. (It is doubtful that you will see wildlife while zip lining or on a train - IMHO.)

 

You are completely - wrong.

[Kamloops50]

Peak salmon run is usually late Aug and September. Bears are found around salmon runs for winter fat build up.

 

Whales start to leave in Aug (mother and calfs) and the bulls in Sept.

There are resident whales in Alaska all year round.

[Budget Queen]

To see wildlife- you HAVE to stack your deck of opportunities. I see PLENTY of wildlife - every single trip, and have been in Alaska multiple times, the entire cruise season.

 

Meaning- take tours, extend your time, and don't be spending all your time in the casino or shopping.

 

Denali and Kenai Fjords are jackpots- far too many people, don't know the details, or invest the necessary time needed.

 

From a cruise ship- I have noted marine wildlife ares several times. I have seen bears- at both Traitor's and Neets out of Ketchikan in Sept.

 

Humpbacks are seen 100% of the time out of both Hoonah and Juneau.

 

Plenty of wildlife opportunities are available- it's also naive thinking, - the "National Geographic" experience is going to be there. Doing a little research and being REALISTIC in your expectations is needed.

[rvorcruise]

Was speaking with an acquaintance the other day and we told him we booked our Alaskan cruise with HAL for the first week of September, 2017. He mentioned that they had cruised RCCL the last week of August a few years back and lamented the fact that all the wildlife had pretty much migrated north (?). They did see some birds, a couple of whales and seals, though.

 

Just curious as to whether this is true or is he just BS'ing us?

 

He was BSing you - with a few rare exceptions, wildlife in Alaska doesn't migrate north. Many of the larger species do move higher into the hills/mountains, away from roads, though.

[Budget Queen]

He was BSing you - with a few rare exceptions, wildlife in Alaska doesn't migrate north. Many of the larger species do move higher into the hills/mountains, away from roads, though.

 

There is a large number of people who sail Alaska who do NOT see any wildlife. I hear it every trip, the last day. So, the OP could be getting an accurate account of that person.

 

Same with Denali- I'm appalled that the NHT is even sold. And way too many people have no clue what it is. I hear- all the time, people who didn't see anything in Denali- problem was, they didn't get INTO the park.

[Tricia724]

Was speaking with an acquaintance the other day and we told him we booked our Alaskan cruise with HAL for the first week of September, 2017. He mentioned that they had cruised RCCL the last week of August a few years back and lamented the fact that all the wildlife had pretty much migrated north (?). They did see some birds, a couple of whales and seals, though.

 

Just curious as to whether this is true or is he just BS'ing us?

 

It sounds like your friend took a cruise only with no optional excursions and just reported what he saw from the ship itself. Not sure where that comment about the migration came from. And I would ask him just how much effort he actually made himself.

 

There are many people who do not actively search for wildlife even on the ship. If someone yells "There's a whale," they'll look out the window and maybe they'll see it. If you want to see wildlife, you have to go where it's most likely to be seen. We have seen a couple of bears from the ship (with good binoculars), but when bears were our priority, we took trips to Katmai.

 

I'm in Alaska right now, and we just spent several days going into the Park at Denali. We saw lots of moose, several good grizzly sightings, some caribou, sheep, a beautiful owl, and a number of birds and small critters. Before that we were in Nome and Coldfoot and saw muskox, grizzlies, a couple of red fox, and the ever popular moose.

 

I realize not everyone would be able to go or would even want to go to those places, but wildlife is always a priority for us. We've been lucky a few times when animals just appeared in front of us but most of the time we had to put some real time and effort into finding them. They are there, but you have to seek them out.

[zqvol]

Was speaking with an acquaintance the other day and we told him we booked our Alaskan cruise with HAL for the first week of September, 2017. He mentioned that they had cruised RCCL the last week of August a few years back and lamented the fact that all the wildlife had pretty much migrated north (?). They did see some birds, a couple of whales and seals, though.

 

Just curious as to whether this is true or is he just BS'ing us?

 

I suspect that for him what he said was 100% true.

 

Seeing wildlife in AK is no different than seeing wildlife at home. You have to know where to look, and you have to put yourself in the proper location. From the ship itself you are not going to see very much while sailing unless you spend all of your time on deck or on your balcony searching the ocean.

 

Ashore, unless you get out of town and where animals live you are not going to see much other than birds, including eagles.

 

If you want to see whales, sea otters, possibly seals, and puffins take a whale watching excursion.

 

If you want to see bear take an excursion to see bear.

 

Just like in Charlotte you are not likely to see deer downtown, you are not likely to see animals in AK, unless you are in the right location.

[Herfnerd]

Thing that gets me is that he said they went on a whale watching excursion out of Juneau and said they didn't see a single whale - that it was a worthless boat tour. Everything I have seen points to the contrary which is why I Had to ask - questioning the veracity of his comments were

 

 

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[zqvol]

Thing that gets me is that he said they went on a whale watching excursion out of Juneau and said they didn't see a single whale - that it was a worthless boat tour. Everything I have seen points to the contrary which is why I Had to ask - questioning the veracity of his comments were

 

 

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Again, whales are wildlife, and while they are almost always seen, sometimes they are simply not around. It's like fishing, some times the fish are there and others they aren't. Time of the year had nothing to do with lack of whales.

Edited September 9, 2016 by zqvol

[Herfnerd]

Again, whales are wildlife, and while they are almost always seen, sometimes they are simply not around. It's like fishing, some times the fish are there and others they aren't. Time of the year had nothing to do with lack of whales.

 

 

I understand - I know that wildlife is unpredictable but I have yet to see anyone take a whale watching tour and not see anything. I asked him if he saw any orcas or anything and he said absolutely didn't see a thing

 

 

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[eandj]

Well I see no reason why your friend would make up the lack of sightings. But I haven't heard of tours from Juneau coming up with zero sightings. There are several companies who communicate together to find the whales. Perhaps he was on some odd tour that was time limited or just didn't want to go to certain areas.

We did a tour off Nova Scotia that offered only 3 or 4 small pilot whales. But we knew ahead of time, we weren't going at the right time in the migration cycle for others.

 

While in Juneau on August 15 or so there were more than a dozen(humpback and orca).really close too. It was awesome.

 

I wouldn't let your friend discourage you.

Edited September 9, 2016 by eandj

[Budget Queen]

I understand - I know that wildlife is unpredictable but I have yet to see anyone take a whale watching tour and not see anything. I asked him if he saw any orcas or anything and he said absolutely didn't see a thing

 

 

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Sorry, but there is NO WAY, this person - on a Juneau whale watch and did not see humpbacks. Sighting stats are 100% and have been for over 15 years. All any vendor has to do, is do one ride around Shelter Island and they see humpbacks. Were they sleeping during the trip?

 

What your "friend" probably is reporting- are unrealistic expectations. Probably expecting breaches? What you are going to see on whale watches- are blows, backs and tails- expect NOTHING more. IF you are indeed thinking you have to see those "National Geographic" photos, then stick with looking at the magazine. To get those views- you have to invest a LOT of time "waiting" for any shred of "watching". I've just stacked up 12 trips out of Gloucester this summer. A nice variety of views for me. I've been out on over 200 whale watches, and have very realistic expectations.

[eandj]

We were soon lucky...and it WAS luck even according to our captain. Not only did we see a group of 5 orcas, including a young one, we hung out long enough to see 4 bubble feedings by a group of 6 humpbacks. It was an amazing sight. To hear them call each other was crazy :)

[caseykees]

We just returned from the NCL Pearl sailing 8/28-9/4. We didn't do any excursions where we would have seen bears. And we did not see any bears. I didn't really expect too. We took a whale watch in Juneau. We did see humpbacks on our tour. We didn't see bubble feeding or breaching. But, I think our tour was too late in the day. The water was so rough, I couldn't even move. I was so scared, I wished I hadn't gone. Not anything to do with the part of the tour company. The tour itself was awesome, if it hadn't been so windy and the water so choppy. It got worse as time went on.

 

That being said, we did see plenty of Dall's porpoises and humpbacks right from the ship. The porpoises liked to swim in the wake of the ship and the humpbacks must have been migrating to Hawaii. I was getting mad because people thought they saw "baby orca". LOL I am glad I read about them before our trip though because I would have thought they were too :) There were times we were surrounded by humpbacks there were so many, that was on Tuesday 8/30 on our way to Juneau. People told us a couple breached off the back of the ship though I did not see that. The tour operator said they had tough shoes to fill. :)

 

When we entered the Strait enroute to Victoria on 9/3, I am pretty sure I saw an Orca breach twice. It happened rather quickly, but I'm fairly certain it was not a humpback. But, a little farther into the Strait, we passed at least 30 humpbacks heading in the opposite direction.

 

Wildlife is unpredictable. I wish I had seen more, but it didn't ruin my trip because I tried to keep my expectations realistic based on what excursions we selected.

[brian1]

Hi,after having done 2 excursions without seeing a bear,today walking to breakfast at the Princess McKinley Lodge a bear was rummaging thru the restaurant bins.Yesterday 2 moose walked past the lodge veranda.Off topic but we can't believe our luck,when we landed at Fairbanks at 1am the northern lights were out and here for 3 days Denali has been in full bloom in glorious sunny weather,cheers,Brian.ps they try and discourage bears from scrounging but the bins have a loose lid with no catch.They simply lift the lid and climb in better than Yogi lol.