Icy Straight Point or Juneau for Whale Watching.

[ojaidenny]

Planning a cruise in September, looking for pros and cons on Icy Straight Point or Juneau for 

Whale Watching. 

Thanks, 

[RJAM3]

Best waters in Alaska inside passage is Icy Straight, I have seen so many at one time you could not count them and then I have seen just a few but if I were to take a whale watching excursion it would be in the Icy straight just as you leave Glacier Bay National Park. Good pair of binoculars on the ship and you can see some amazing sites.  

[RLK33853]

Icy Point is great for whales - you can watch them right from the shore.

[sirclean]

This is a good question and I learned something!

I have been to Icy Point before, and there is not a lot to do.  We walked to town (all the way to town) and even saw the Eagle's nest... yup that is one of the highlights to the town of Icy Point!  

the canary is a nice walk through tour, but not an all day event.

In Juneau I have enjoyed the Photo Safari.  It is a whale watching event and a walk to the Mendenhal Glacier.  The guide is also a camera expert, so the guide will discuss how to make the best use of your camera (of even just your cell phone if that is what you are primarily using!)

 

But Juneau has other sites to see so given that there are fewer things to do in Icy Point, it may be the better whale watching location and you can better enjoy the shops in Juneau or Mt. Roberts.  

[WendyVF]

I did a whale watching excursion in Juneau and saw quite a few whales.  The next day we were docked at Icy Pont Straight and I decided to stay on the ship.  I lucked out and got the most amazing whale show while I was sitting at the bar.  They came up and did the whole circle feeding thing.  It was absolutely incredible!

[BuckeyeMark]

You can't beat Harv & Marv in Juneau for whale watching. They're the best!

[qoap24]

I haven't done a whale watching tour in Juneau, but last year we did in Icy Point and it was amazing. We saw a large pod of whales that were feeding. They got so close to our boat that you could hear them. It was cold and rainy, but it was so worth it. 

[Glaciers]

Both have good whale watch activity although the humpback population has decreased by over 30% since the peak in 2013 in the Icy Strait Point area. The bigger issue is that there are so many other things to do in Juneau and very little in ICP. Plan this around your other activities to see where it fits.

[jeanandjim]

On 3/6/2022 at 5:08 PM, ojaidenny said:

Planning a cruise in September, looking for pros and cons on Icy Straight Point or Juneau for 

Whale Watching. 

Thanks, 

Nice topic Denny. We are on the cruise with you on the Grand in Sept. I have booked a brown bear excursion in Icy Straight Point but if whale watching in Sept. is better here than in Juneau, will gladly join you on this excursion. Maybe the good folks that have given advice can tell us what months they were lucky enough to score some great sightings.

Thanx, Jim😎

[nini]

You may also find much more commentary on the Alaska board as your subject matter pertains to Alaska, not Princess.

[leck57]

7 hours ago, Glaciers said:

Both have good whale watch activity although the humpback population has decreased by over 30% since the peak in 2013 in the Icy Strait Point area. The bigger issue is that there are so many other things to do in Juneau and very little in ICP. Plan this around your other activities to see where it fits.

 

Just out of interest, why has the humpback population decreased by 30%? The humpback population down here (monitored as they come past on their migration) has increased considerably over the recent years and I wondered why in that area it has decreased.

[Glaciers]

3 hours ago, leck57 said:

 

Just out of interest, why has the humpback population decreased by 30%? The humpback population down here (monitored as they come past on their migration) has increased considerably over the recent years and I wondered why in that area it has decreased.

It’s actually improved a bit in the past couple years. It had been down as much as 40% as indicated in this report.

https://www.nps.gov/glba/blogs/good-news-from-the-humpback-whale-monitoring-program.htm

 

Looks to be the lack of food supply. It will be interesting to see this year’s report with the recent increase in population and the lack of cruise traffic the last couple years.

Here’s the root page for NPS Currents.

https://www.nps.gov/glba/blogs/Currents.htm

 

[leck57]

7 hours ago, Glaciers said:

It’s actually improved a bit in the past couple years. It had been down as much as 40% as indicated in this report.

https://www.nps.gov/glba/blogs/good-news-from-the-humpback-whale-monitoring-program.htm

 

 

Looks to be the lack of food supply. It will be interesting to see this year’s report with the recent increase in population and the lack of cruise traffic the last couple years.

Here’s the root page for NPS Currents.

https://www.nps.gov/glba/blogs/Currents.htm

 

 

 

Thanks for replying. A very interesting read. After the hunting of whales has pretty much stopped, it would be disappointing to see a decline in numbers.

[ojaidenny]

17 hours ago, nini said:

You may also find much more commentary on the Alaska board as your subject matter pertains to Alaska, not Princess.

Thanks, I posted there also.

 

[ojaidenny]

18 hours ago, jeanandjim said:

Nice topic Denny. We are on the cruise with you on the Grand in Sept. I have booked a brown bear excursion in Icy Straight Point but if whale watching in Sept. is better here than in Juneau, will gladly join you on this excursion. Maybe the good folks that have given advice can tell us what months they were lucky enough to score some great sightings.

Thanx, Jim😎

I looked at that excursion as it is on my bucket list to see bears feeding in a river.  I THINK the excursion takes you to a bear reserve or nature walk.  For whales, I have two companies in ISP I am looking at trying to compare. The ship also has an excursion with lunch about the same price as the one I am looking at. Trying to stay in a small group. We went whale watching during September in Juneau in the past in a small boat and saw plenty of humpbacks. One of the companies has a discount for a group of 6. There are 4 of us, I will let you know if we decide on that one. 

[jeanandjim]

4 hours ago, ojaidenny said:

I looked at that excursion as it is on my bucket list to see bears feeding in a river.  I THINK the excursion takes you to a bear reserve or nature walk.  For whales, I have two companies in ISP I am looking at trying to compare. The ship also has an excursion with lunch about the same price as the one I am looking at. Trying to stay in a small group. We went whale watching during September in Juneau in the past in a small boat and saw plenty of humpbacks. One of the companies has a discount for a group of 6. There are 4 of us, I will let you know if we decide on that one. 

Thanx, turfguyjim at yahoo dot com if you care to reach out to me.

Jim😎

[ojaidenny]

14 hours ago, jeanandjim said:

Thanx, turfguyjim at yahoo dot com if you care to reach out to me.

Jim😎

We decided on Glacier Wind in ISP for whale watching.  Boat has occupancy of 6 and we sold that  time out. In Skagway we are booked on a Yukon Rail and Bus Excursion with lunch on Chilkoot tours.

Have fun searching. 

[Italy52]

1 hour ago, ojaidenny said:

We decided on Glacier Wind in ISP for whale watching.  Boat has occupancy of 6 and we sold that  time out. In Skagway we are booked on a Yukon Rail and Bus Excursion with lunch on Chilkoot tours.

Have fun searching. 

Glacier Wind is a great company --- enjoy!

[jeanandjim]

2 hours ago, ojaidenny said:

We decided on Glacier Wind in ISP for whale watching.  

We grabbed two of the slots on the 13 passenger boat. See you on-board.

Jim😎