Alaska - Day 6 - Juneau - A tail of a whale

 We landed in Juneau where we had booked a whale watching excursion which also included a trip to a glacier after a walk through a rain forest.  It was without doubt our best day on the trip.  

I have broken this day down into 2 posts.  This one will cover our whale watching which was fabulous.  The pictures are a bit repetitive but it will give you a sense of how overwhelmed we were by all the whales.  They were all around us and at one point two of them were coming right for our boat.  Lori edged closer to me and whispered, "Do you think they should move the boat".  The scene in "Jaws" came to mind when Dreyfus says to the captain "I think we need a bigger boat".  

We weren't in any danger but when 2 - 50 foot, 60,000 pound humpies are making a beeline for you one does feel their heart pump just a little faster. Just before they reached our boat they dove under the boat and we could breathe again.   

After watching the humpbacks for a while we could predict their actions.  First you see their backs just break the surface. Sometimes you see a puff of water and mist as they exhale.  Then they disappear and a few seconds later you see the back again but this time much more of it.  By the 3rd or 4th time they almost arch out of the water and that's the clue that they are about to dive and the money shot is moments away.  I got a few but never the perfect angle.  At one point I thought I had it and I said to the woman next to me who, like me, was also waiting for that perfect shot.  "Here it comes.  The money shot".  And then it didn't materialize as the tail never broke the surface.  Oh, well.   

To clarify the money shot is the one you see in magazines or nature shows.  The whale moving away from you with the tail fully in the air, water pouring off the tail and the white markings on the underside visible for the shot.  Sun glistening off the water and wet skin of the whale would make it perfect but as usual it was raining for most of the day and water glistening in the sunlight was not going to happen.   Just getting a shot with good contrast and in focus was a challenge on a grey, misty day shooting from a rocking boat at a moving subject but I got a few.  

Our tour guide was quite the whale expert.  He often comes out just to take pictures of the whales, specifically the tail as the markings on each whale are unique, like fingerprints.  He sends them in so the whales can be identified and tracked for their migration patterns, if they have calves and their age.  They all have names and he was able to identify a few from their markings while we out there.  Of course he could have been spinning us a story and we wouldn't be any the wiser.  

Our guide lives in Alaska but says he has to get out in the winter and not because of the cold.  In fact it's colder in the winter in Winnipeg than it is on the coast of Alaska which is why we now go to Arizona in the winter.  He said it's the darkness that gets to him.  In the winters he is a downhill ski guide and instructor in Colorado and this year he is hoping to get a guide job in Hawaii. Many of the guides we met lead transient lives like this and for some it's not just for a year or two but on an ongoing basis.   

Heading down the ramp to get on our boat. 

One of many whale watching boats with the mountains and a glacier in the background. 

Whale breaking the surface.  There she blows Billy. 

Getting ready to dive

The tail starting to clear the water. 

There it is.  The money shot except I'm in the wrong place.  

The tale (no pun intended) of my photography journey.  

Even had a sea lion make an appearance.  We could see him flipping a fish in the air.  Playing with his food or perhaps teasing the gulls.  

We didn't see any whales breach but did see one calf "spying hopping" which is when they stick their head out of the water to see what is happening up top.  This is one of the few times I got a shot of the head of a whale breaking the surface.