I’ve been on a few whale watching tours in the Northwest and Sea of Cortez. I’ve seen many whales breach, spy hop and dive. Its a marvelous site to see. I never tire of observing these magnificent and mighty 70,000 pound creatures rise from the sea, turn, twist and dive. I love how they slap their fins and roll. The reasons for these behaviors are as mysterious and unknown as the meanings in their sounds and songs. On this warm beautiful sunny morning though, with calm seas and stunning mountains visible in the background, we would be provided a show like nothing any of us had ever seen, including Tom and Tish.

I quickly learned that anytime Captain Tom suddenly decelerated and stopped the boat, it meant there was something wonderful to see. If my camera were not already in my hand, I would quickly grab it. This happened frequently during our trip. As we slowed to a complete stop about 150 to 200 yards from the whales, we all rushed out on deck. We noticed there were a couple more off in the distance as well, but the two that Tom first spotted were slowly moving closer toward our boat.

I fired off shot after shot of breaches, fin slaps and flukes disappearing into the sea. Soon though, our two new friends were moving even closer. After a few breaches, each whale would take a break and catch their breath. We could hear the deep sound of their exhaling and inhaling. As the minutes passed, there seemed to be a increasing level of trust between us and the whales. They were exhibiting more spy hopping, rolling and fin slapping behavior. When they dove, they would breach closer towards the boat. They were breaching so near that I feared the splash would drench me and my camera. We estimated that a few times they came much closer than 30 feet away, appearing from the water so quickly that it was nearly impossible to turn, focus and shoot. A few times, one breached so close, it was only a few feet off the bow. My lens could only capture a very small portion of the whale within the frame.
 
I believe the most astonishing thing was how unafraid of us these whales were. We seemed to have formed a bond and level of trust. They were enjoying being around us for this hour as much as we enjoyed watching them. We were in complete awe of the beauty and magnificence of our new friends, cheering with every breach and fin slap. In a couple images at the bottom of the page, the whale is rolling on its back, next to the boat. Its tail is brushing up against the hull.

Monday morning, day 3 of our exploration, we raised anchor and headed to retrieve our shrimp pots. The first pot yielded a very good haul. The second pot, not as much. A Giant Pacific Octopus had spent time in the early morning devouring the shrimp (we released the GPO back into the water). Fortunately we still ended up with well over 100 shrimp for our fabulous dinner that evening. Next we were on our way to Sunset Island to view a few Stellar Sea Lions. The smell was fabulous, or not so much.

That afternoon we arrived at Five Finger Island Lighthouse. One the first lighthouses ever constructed in SE Alaska. The couple living their for the summer, John and Pat, volunteer their time. They share island with some beautiful inhabitants. Pigeon Guillemots, Oyster Catchers, Eagles and so much more. A Humpback swam past, only feet off the island while we were atop of the lighthouse. 

Soon we were off to drop anchor in Pybus Bay and visit with some very cool sea lions. Tomorrow we head to Red Bluff Bay on Baranoff Island and will experience a rare and spectacular event.

Southeast Alaska can be a difficult place to live, work and play. The weather is gloomy, cold and rainy almost year round. A few months of the year, there are only have a few hours of daylight each day. Only a few weeks of summer can be expected each year, and this year South East Alaska saw only two. There are few roads that connect the cities and towns. Juneau, the capital of Alaska, is an island city. Located on the mainland, it is completely isolated and impossible to drive into or out of, beyond only a few miles. This major city is connected to the outside world only by boat or plane. This remote, nearly pristine region, with all its islands, stunning mountains, massive glaciers, beautiful waterfalls, deep narrow waterways and so much more, is truly spectacular. My family and I had an opportunity to experience seven days and nights of SE Alaska, from a very up-close and personal perspective. Alaska Quest Charters is one of the very best, most professional and most knowledgable charters in Alaska. Captain Tom Satre and his wife Tish were wonderful, knowledgable and skillful hosts.   

On our first day sailing out of Juneau the weather was perfect. The seas were calm with warm temperatures and beautiful clear blue skies. My daughter would comment a few days later that she had to come to Alaska to get her summer tan. We headed south through Gastineau Channel towards Stephens Passage. Admiralty Island was to our west and soon we're seeing and navigating past large icebergs. The sun's blue light is the only light able to penetrate the dense ice. As the day waned, we glided past Tracy Arm into No Name Cove to drop anchor. That evening we dined on perfectly prepared Filet Mignon, accompanied with a delicious Malbec. 
By mid day of our second day, we were approaching our first close encounter with the massive South Sawyer Glacier. Although difficult to gauge how large and impressive the size of this glacier is, I've tried to present my shots below to demonstrate its grandeur. In the third shot below is a 65' tourist boat, about 300 yards from the glacier. Look close in the lower right corner of the first shot. Then compare it with the bottom right corner of the third shot, after the tour boat has moved in close at the base of the glacier.
While on the top deck of the Quest enjoying this spectacular view, Tish brought us our lunch. We dined at a table for six, with one of the greatest views on the planet. Massive chunks of ice and rock calving off as we dined on delicious Minestrone soup and crab salad sandwiches. A few moments after a massive piece of glacier fell into the water with a great boom, the entire bay was rocked with powerful waves. That piece of glacier may have been over 1000 feet tall when it fell. 

Later that afternoon we fished for ice at the North Sawyer Glacier. My daughter Sahana is seen below scooping up pieces of glacial ice that probably originated millions of years ago. We continued past SumDum Glacier and dropped anchor in Windham Bay for our second night. Before dinner we set out our shrimp pots, one of the things I had never done before in my life. Finally For dessert and to end our amazing second day, we set out in the skiff to see Humpback Whales breaching in the bay.