Workshop Overview :: Alaska's Whales & Wildlife

Join us for a superb six-day workshop, and photograph the wildlife of Southeast Alaska aboard the Kirsten Anne, a luxurious 49' sailboat operated by our captain Neil Nickerson, and Alaska Sailing Charters. The Kirsten Anne offers an outstanding platform from which to photograph the incomparable migrating humpback whales, brown bears, and blad eagle of Alaska. Adventurous photographers of all ages, especially those wishing to experience Alaska in comfort, will love exploring the vast wilderness of Chichagof Island, Icy Straits, and Dundas Bay aboard this handsome boat.

Starts: Juneau, Alaska (Auke Bay)

Ends: Juneau, Alaska (Auke Bay)

Duration: Six days

Distance: 200 miles

Price: $2,400 to $2,800

Activities: Photography, whale watching, wildlife observation, sea kayaking, hiking.

Highlights: Paddling among the whales, watching wildlife, photography, fantastic scenery, wilderness solitude, hiking through a truly untouched area.

Trip dates: See 2009 Workshops for current availability of our workships.

Reservations: Please Contact Us for more information, or to book this workshop!

Trip Itinerary

While we have a carefully planned schedule, each trip may differ slightly, depending upon wind and tides, weather conditions, wildlife viewing opportunities, and the goals of participants.

Day 1: Our group will meet at Auke Bay Harbor at 8:00 a.m. for an orientation, and a preview of our sailing adventure. The crew will welcome you at the dock, familiarize you with your quarters aboard the Kirsten Anne, and show you where to stow your gear. We’ll quickly settle into our cabins, take a tour of the beautiful vessel, and begin our journey.

This morning we embark on our six-day scenic cruise into the heart of Icy Strait. We’ll have plenty of opportunity to hike along the beach, kayak and hike, and photograph whales, marine mammals, birds, and other wildlife. Traveling around on a small boat and on foot often gives us a closer view of this elaborate ecosystem, and we hope to see brown and black bears. We begin our adventure with a cruise to Pinta Cove, on Chichagof Island. We’ll pass the Point Retreat Lighthouse, which sits on the northern point of Admiralty Island.

It won’t take long before we’ll need our cameras and binoculars – off the northwest coast of Admiralty Island, humpback whales often catch herring and other small fish using a technique called bubble-net feeding. Unique to humpbacks, bubble-net feeding requires a group of whales to work cooperatively. The process begins when a school of small fish is located. Humpback whales only eat tiny fish and krill, which are abundant in Alaska's waters. The group then gathers below the school of fish, and begins releasing bubbles to confuse the fish, and bunch them together. The cylindrical wall of bubbles they create acts like a net, which fish are reluctant to swim through. This ring of bubbles soon appears on the surface of the water. The entire group then suddenly surges upward through the bubble net, mouths agape – a dozen or more humpback whales all rising to the surface in unison. Each whale collects a huge mouthful of water, and then expels it, straining the fish through its baleen. Often the group will display this feeding behavior over and over again.

Throughout the day, we’ll watch for whales, sea lions, dall porpoises, orcas, and sea birds. After arriving at Pinta Cove, we’ll stretch our legs on shore. It’s a short distance by skiff or kayak to a nearby Forest Service shelter. We'll hike through a rainforest of Sitka spruce trees, skunk cabbage and ferns, and learn about a mature muskeg. Dinner will be aboard the Kirsten Anne, and our evening anchorage gives us the opportunity to watch the sunset over Glacier Bay.

Day 2: After an early breakfast, we depart for an all-day cruise to George Island, a narrow, three-mile long island in the heart of the Inian Islands Wilderness. We’ll spend the first part of our day at Pt. Adolphus, observing the movement of feeding humpback whales, as we paddle our sea kayaks or cruise in our inflatable boat along the shore of Chichagof Island. From the 1,000 foot depths of Icy Strait to the rocky shorelines, this is a sea kayaking paradise of immense scale and diversity. This incredible location offers us the opportunity to view and photograph the amazing humpback whales, stellar sea lions, and harbor seals that congregate here to feed each summer. We discover that sea lions are huge, and seem curious about us. They surface near us, approach us boldly, and then drop into the chilly depths. Occasionally a whale fully breaches out of the water, in a commanding display of acrobatic power. Observing these dramatic moments adds an exclamation point to our adventure!

As we continue on to the Mud River aboard the Kirsten Anne, we watch for eagles, whales and sea lions. Giant trees along the shore support bald eagles' nests, sometimes up to a ton in size, and over eighty kinds of moss hang from tree branches, and thickly carpet the forest floor. Eagle Rock is a favorite gathering place for bald eagles, and we’ll stop here to photograph them fishing along the shoreline. We’ll take the skiff up Mud River to explore for brown bears, examine the forest wilderness, view flocks of ducks and geese in the open meadows, and photograph the vivid displays of lupine, irises, river beauties, chocolate lilies, bog orchids and Indian paintbrush. Bears in this area forage on the abundance of berries, and pink salmon make a mid-season run up the river. In a few special places, bears place their feet in the same spot each time they use a trail, leaving a series of footprints to mark their territories. For those who are interested, stream fishing in the Mud River for Dolly Varden is world-class.

By late afternoon we’re back aboard the Kirsten Anne. As we cruise past Idaho Inlet, we’ll see small groups of adorable sea otters, and we'll observe them silently from the bow. Otters keep their fur immaculately clean, and their constant grooming is highly entertaining. We reach our anchorage at Granite Cove, on George Island, in the early evening. We’ll take a short skiff ride to the nearby fishing village of Elfin Cove. This boardwalk community has no roads, and boasts a population of perhaps a few dozen people, with one or two boats per person. We walk along the boardwalk, stop in for happy hour at The Coho, and shop for the perfect Elfin Cove fleece or local smoked salmon.

Day 3: After an early breakfast, the skiff and kayaks are lowered, in preparation for our full day on George Island. Our early morning excursion is timed for optimal viewing of a variety of sea birds. On our way to the shore, we'll hear pigeon guillemots in full mating song, and observe tufted and horned puffins, plus the fabulous orange-red feet and bills of oyster catchers. Kayaking around George Island is sublime, but not for the faint-of-heart. Wind, weather and tides will determine whether we can venture out into the open-ocean side of the island. If luck is on our side, we’ll paddle to the outer coast, and pass arches and sea cliffs with nesting cormorants. It’s an incredible landscape of sea arches and caves, interspersed with isolated rocky and sandy beaches. Our ultimate destination is a bold sea arch, framing the distant shores of Glacier Bay. The scenery and wild nature of this route make it perhaps the finest short paddle in all of Alaska!

Hikers will delight in the spectacular views from several idyllic beaches on George Island. Numerous trails take us through old growth rainforests, salmonberry thickets, and into the alpine on the top of the island. During tide pool explorations, we’ll find hundreds of sea stars, sea cucumbers, spiny sea urchins, sponges, periwinkles and whelks –a few of the many species that "hang" around, awaiting the return of high tide. A hearty picnic lunch among the tumbled boulders at a secluded beach completes our day. It is not uncommon to hear humpbacks slapping the water, and releasing their explosive breath on the other side of this very narrow island.

Kirsten Anne is underway in the late afternoon, bound for Dundas Bay. We stop at Bird Rock to observe the stellar sea lion colony, and then pass through the exotic Inian Islands. About halfway into Dundas Bay, there is a splendid (optional) paddle to our evening anchorage, at the end of the fjord.

Day 4: We'll spend the entire day exploring the spectacular wilderness of Dundas Bay. After breakfast, we'll explore the erratic boulder field of Dundas Bay. Otters, black and brown bears, wolves, moose, and hoary marmots can be seen grazing these wildflower-filled meadows. Next, we’ll cross a small stream, for a brief hike through a rainforest of Sitka spruce, skunk cabbage, and ferns. We'll make our way up the mountainside, to explore and learn about a mature muskeg, and get a closer view of this elaborate ecosystem.

After our adventure in the rainforest, we'll head back to the Kirsten Anne, and explore more of Dundas Bay. We’ll kayak or skiff along the shoreline, looking for bears and wolves. Then we’ll go ashore near a meadow of wildflowers, where we’ll hike along the beach. We can pick wild strawberries, learn about native plants, and revel in the glorious meadows of Indian paintbrush, lupine, irises, chocolate lilies, river beauties, fireweed, and more. We'll also follow the tracks of river otters, bear, moose and wolves.

Then it’s back to the Kirsten Anne,and a splendid anchorage among several small islands. In the evening, we’ll enjoy another delicious dinner, as we take in the magnificent vistas and stunning sunset, and listen for the mournful howls of Dundas Bay wolves.

Day 5: After a relaxed breakfast, we’ll continue our journey. Today we'll pass to the north of Lemesurier Island and then head east into Icy Bay. Throughout the morning, we’ll watch for humpback whales, minke whales, sea lions, harbor porpoises, sea otters, and orcas. This area of Icy Strait is favorite area for two spectacular whale behaviors: tail-lobbing and breaching. And on clear days, the backdrop of the Fairweather Range is unparalleled.

Pleasant Island is our destination today. Upon reaching the island, we are usually greeted by eagles. Past the western point of the island is a string of lovely sandy beaches. This is where we’ll land our kayaks or skiff, and enjoy a lunch of locally smoked salmon, fresh veggies and fruit. While ashore, we'll explore the moist interior of the forest, home to a myriad of ferns, mushrooms and wildflowers. Moss carpets the forest floor, and drapes off the branches. This is truly old growth forest, as it was not covered by recent glacial advances. We'll hike into open areas of bog muskeg, and soak up the ambience of this beautifully unique place. . There are few places on earth where one can travel through so many distinct, yet interrelated ecosystems, in such a short distance.

Our anchorage this evening is east of Pleasant Island, among its satellite islands. With our free time, we may hike through the island's arch and see its pillars, or walk in the rain forest to a small, clear lake. We are also alert for signs of wildlife – the plaintive cry of a bald eagle, the bleat of a black-tail fawn, and the explosive whoosh of a whale's breath.

Day 6: Even by Alaska standards, Icy Strait is an extraordinary place. Waves pound the shoreline, and tidal currents swirl, stirring the sea richly into a distinct greenhouse aroma that fills the air. Green waters teem with krill, herring and salmon, attracting hungry whales and marine mammals eager for their share. On our final day, we'll pass Excursion Inlet, as we retrace our route back to Auke Bay. We pass the northwest coast of Admiralty Island in early afternoon, and once again hope to observe humpback whales bubble-net feeding.

Kirsten Anne is scheduled to arrive in Auke Bay Harbor around 4 p.m. Participants should have ample time to settle into a hotel in bustling downtown Juneau, or catch an evening flight from Juneau Airport. If you're staying in town, join us at 7:00 p.m. for fantastic dinner at the Twisted Fish Company, on Frankllin Street in downtown Juneau.

If you need additional information about this trip, pleace contact us.

Price Schedule

The price schedule for this workshop depends upon the level of accommodations you prefer aboard the Kirsten Anne. The workshop fee includes includes professional guiding, field sessions, and photo instruction. Rates are per person, and are based upon double occupancy.

 

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