We are pretty darned excited and have sighted our first gray whale of the season in the lagoon 2 weeks ago. I was up in San Diego 4 weeks ago and a local whale watching company told me that their first sightings of the season were a week early. Fingers crossed and cheers to a great season!!
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That day a new era dawned in human-cetacean interaction and that big beautiful gray whale became the first of a long line of whales at San Ignacio Lagoon.
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Schooling hammerheads at Punta Tosca, a Tiger shark at Roca O’Neal, 8 Giant Mantas in one dive at the Boiler and an awesome surprise at Roca Partida when a pod of about 60 False Killer Whales swam by the Explorer.
Read MoreAfter a great day of scuba diving, inflatable tours, zodiac kayaking (kayaking with a comfort boat ie. zodiac, tagging along behind with beverages, refreshments and an easy way to get home if you get tired of paddling) and whale watching around Inian Island, we took everybody ashore after dinner for a “look-around” the tiny boardwalk community of Elfin Cove. Our guests somehow got waylaid at the Coho Bar and Grill and bartender introduced them to “duck farts.” The Nautilus Explorer was anchored outside the Cove and during the various inflatable shuttles back to the boat it seemed that all we heard from our guests was “we want more duck farts”, “I’d like a duck fart waiting for me please”, “do you know how to make duck farts” and so on.
Read MorePoint Adolphus is one of the most productive feeding grounds in southeast Alaska and the humpback whale sightings are usually quite awesome. Today was no exception, starting off with a pod of orcas cruising along on the surface 15 miles east of Adolphus and then loads of humpbacks right at the point.
Read MoreToday was turnover day and as I sat in my office doing paperwork, I happened to look out the window and just about fell over in astonishment. I’ve never seen so many helicopters flying at one time – not even at the height of a forest fire in my previous life as a water bomber pilot. It seemed like there were helicopters everywhere with one group of 7 flying in a line towards Mendenhall and at least 6 more flying back the other way. They looked just like dragonflies to my eye and it was a sight that I won’t soon forget.
Read MoreI made a fast 180° turn in the Nautilus to keep them in sight and was taken aback when I realized that they were swarming a large adult humpback whale. It was hard to see exactly what was going on because of all the splashing. I assumed that the orcas were actually attacking a humpback whale calf and that the mom was defending her offspring from the orcas. Despite all the excited splashing and fin slapping and all the other stuff going on, we weren’t able to see a calf and can only assume that the orcas took a run at the adult humpback. I’ve never heard of such a thing before!
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