Alaska Whale Watching Guide

Humpback whales are the animal most people come to Alaska hoping to see, and the odds of seeing one on a boat trip in July are genuinely excellent. Understanding why they are here, where the food is, and how the season changes their behaviour turns a good sighting into a memorable one.

The humpback whales that feed in Southeast Alaska in summer spend their winters in Hawaii or Mexico, breeding and calving in warm water where there is almost nothing to eat. They arrive here in spring having lost a substantial share of their body mass, and they spend the summer doing one thing: eating.

That is why the odds are so good, and it is also why the odds change through the season.

Where the whales are

If your itinerary includes both Juneau and Icy Strait Point, book the whale trip at Icy Strait Point. The boats leave from the site itself rather than requiring a twelve mile road transfer, which means more time on the water for the same port hours.

When to go

Humpback distribution tracks their food, which in Southeast Alaska means herring and juvenile salmon.

• May: whales arriving from the south, thin and dispersed. Sightings good but less predictable.
• June: settling into feeding grounds. Very good.
• July: peak concentration. The best month.
• August: still excellent, with salmon adding to the food supply.
• September: beginning to disperse as they prepare to head south. Still good, with more travel between sightings.

Bubble net feeding

This is the behaviour worth understanding before you go, because if you see it you will want to know what you are looking at.

A group of humpbacks, sometimes four or five and occasionally more, works cooperatively. One whale swims in an upward spiral beneath a school of herring, releasing a curtain of bubbles that the fish will not swim through. Another vocalises, driving the school upward. The trapped herring are concentrated into a tight ball near the surface, and the whole group then lunges up through the middle with mouths open.

What you see from a boat is a ring of bubbles appearing on the surface, a few seconds of nothing, and then several enormous mouths breaking the water together. It is over in perhaps four seconds.

It is learned behaviour rather than instinct, practised by particular groups, and Southeast Alaska is one of the best places in the world to see it. Icy Strait is where it is observed most often.

What else you will see

A whale watching trip in Alaska is rarely only about whales.

• Steller sea lions hauled out on rocks and channel markers, loud and unmistakable
• Harbour seals, often on floating ice near glaciers
• Bald eagles, near certain in any coastal setting
• Dall's porpoise, fast and strikingly black and white, sometimes bow riding
• Sea otters, particularly around Sitka
• Orca, less reliable than humpbacks but present

Choosing an operator

The single most useful question to ask is boat capacity. A twelve passenger vessel and a hundred and forty passenger catamaran are entirely different experiences at broadly similar prices.

Other questions worth asking:

• Does the price include the transfer from the berth, particularly in Juneau
• Is there indoor heated seating, which matters more than people expect
• What is the sighting policy, and what does a guarantee actually pay
• How long is the trip on the water rather than the total duration

On guarantees

Many Alaska operators advertise a whale sighting guarantee. It is worth understanding what that means: it is a refund policy, not a biological promise. Typically it entitles you to a partial refund or a free repeat trip if no whale is seen. Given that the underlying sighting rate in July is above 95 percent, the guarantee is a marketing device that costs the operator very little.

That is not a criticism. It just means the guarantee should not be a deciding factor between operators.

Photographing whales

The classic shot is the fluke as the whale sounds, and you have about two seconds to take it.

• Watch for the arched back. That is your cue.
• Use continuous autofocus and burst mode.
• Set 1/1600 second or faster. The boat moves and the whale moves.
• Skip the polariser. It costs you a stop and a half of light exactly when you need speed.
• 200mm is workable, 400mm is better. Most action happens at 100 to 300 metres.

More detail in our Alaska cruise photography guide.

What to bring

A waterproof shell, a hat, gloves and something warm underneath. Boats feel considerably colder than land at the same temperature because you are stationary and exposed. Binoculars are genuinely useful for scanning between sightings. A dry bag for the camera is worth the small cost.

For the full excursion picture including costs by port, see Alaska shore excursion costs.