Our Alaska Trip; Part 1, Cruising the open ocean

[labmansid]

I haven't really been on the forum much for a while lately, but there is a reason for that. We have been in the process of either planning, traveling to, or recuperating from our recent trip to Alaska! We had thought about it for quite some time, and finally decided it was time to just do it. It was totally amazing and worth all the effort it took to make it happen.
We started our journey on July 7th and ended it on July 25th, and we were blessed with great weather nearly the entire time. Only 4 or 5 days where it was completely cloudy or had any rain to speak of, and most of that was towards the end where it was actually kind of welcomed. Several times we heard some of the locals complain about how "hot" it was when it got up into the 70's or near 80! The wife and I would just look at each other and shake our heads, knowing that back home it was probably near 100 yet again!
We started off with one of the standard cruise ships going north through the Inside Passage. We went with the Royal Caribbean's ship Radiance of the Seas, leaving out of Vancouver, British Columbia, and ending in Seward, Alaska.

Here is a shot of our ship while anchored just offshore from Icy Strait, which is very near the small town of Hoonah, Alaska.



The next morning after our departure, our first full day at sea, I quickly discovered the helipad at the front of the ship made a great observation deck near the water level. I didn't really expect to see that much at the time, and only had my 70-200 zoom with a 1.4TC with me. There were several people out there with me, and we were soon treated to the sight of what looked like a plume of steam rising up out of the ocean in the distance almost directly ahead of the ship. Of course, we all knew that meant there was a whale up ahead that we were bearing down on, my first ever sighting of one. We observed the telltale columns of water vapor the creature was releasing as we got closer to it, when all of a sudden, the unexpected happened-









It was still pretty far off when it breached, but it was still quite thrilling to see. It actually breached once more right after that, but did not come out of the water quite as much. Everyone out there with me were pretty excited as well, naturally.
Later that day, I decided it might be worth it to take the 500mm out on deck after my luck with the whale. I saw some of the same people I had seen earlier, and of course the big glass drew a few comments from them. Anyway, I was hoping all the extra effort and anxiety of getting it through onto the plane and beyond would be worth it.
After a while of scouring the ocean for signs of wildlife, we could see that there were several porpoises coming towards the ship from what seemed like all directions. It was cool watching them break the surface of the water to briefly exchange air, but frustrating trying to anticipate where they would bob up next in order to get any kind of shot. I did finally get a sense of their rhythm, but all they were showing was a small portion of their backs in order to breathe. Finally, for whatever reason, one of the porpoises gave me the chance I was waiting for.













So, all in all I thought it was a great start to what I knew would be a trip we would remember fondly the rest of our lives.
One more shot to end the day, and one more chance to witness a sunset at a somewhat decent hour! Don't even talk about getting up before sunrise, I think even Tim might have trouble doing that up there!






As always, thanks for looking!

[blue-october-fan]

Beautiful...

*sigh of adoration*

my best friend is getting back from a cruise to alaska this week and I've been cursing her out every day because she wouldn't let me hide in her suitcase :(

your pics only make me want to go more... like i said, beautiful. love the last shot of the sunset.

[corralup]

Oh, those were sweet! Thanks for sharing your awesome trip.

[Shadow]

Wow, Sid keep 'em coming....

[sheribeari]

breath taking!

[houtex01]

Fantastic series Sid...the porpoise sequence is outstanding...and only day one...keep 'em coming Sid...great narrative...btw you should sell that ship photo to RC...looks just like one of their brochure photos...

Ron

[lhdvies]

Way to go Sid, "you lucky dog". Glad you enjoyed the trip & looking forward to more of your photos-good work.!!

[Tim T]

Wow, awesome shots Sid! Major jealousy from my end. Congrat's on your trip and the photos. Keep them coming.

[gll]

wow Sid very nice! that's the same ship and route we took two years ago, will be watching for more of your trip!

[TxPhotoShooter]

How awesome! Nice photos Sid.

[jfoureyes]

Sid, these are fantastic!! I'm glad you posted them and hope you post more from your trip... thanks!

[David Alaniz]

What can be said....just great. Want to see more.

[slallen]

Great set Sid! My sister in law is there right now and returns home Thursday. I am envious.

[labmansid]

Thanks, guys. I'm still going through the 9000+ photos I took while there, but the end is in sight!