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labmansid · **Our Alaska Trip, Part 2; Whale watching at Icy Strait -** 08-09-2011, 11:02 PM

Our first port of call was Ketchikan, Alaska. We didn't do too much there other than do some touring around town and window shopping. There are lots of shops in many of these towns! I did do an excursion there where we were taken to a spot and went snorkeling. Yes, there are people who snorkel in Alaska! You must dress up in a full wetsuit to do it, but it was pretty neat to do. I saw lots of starfish and small jellyfish, and some small crabs and such. I didn't really get any shots to post on here, but did want to mention it.
Our next stop was Icy Strait, which is an old cannery turned into a museum and, surprise surprise, tourist shops!

Just down the road is the small town of Hoonah. There are several small boat tour operators based there, mostly geared towards whale watching, and also a few bear finding tours. It's sort of a joke on various travel forums that the bear based tours are more like bear searching tours, since sightings are not exactly guaranteed, and sightings are often fleeting and from quite a distance, if one is seen at all. We opted for one of the whale watching tours, since this area is home to a prime feeding ground for whales and sightings are pretty much guaranteed.
The smaller tour boats here, as opposed to the larger ones used by the cruise line excursions, hold a maximum of six passengers. They are highly recommended on various forums over the larger boats for several reasons, such as being more maneuverable and less crowding.
I have to say I was a little disappointed in the whale watching experience, but to be fair it was through no fault of our tour operator. First off, one of the couples who had booked with them showed up quite a bit late for our departure, which set us back on our total time on the water since we had to get back in time for the afternoon tour to go out. Secondly, the whales were out there for sure, but for some reason seemed to be avoiding the tour boats more than usual that day, according to the operator. The general routine seemed to be to find the whale(s), set up ahead of them and sit so they swim towards you. This day, however, they seemed to turn off and swim away without getting very close, and we saw none of the breaching and "bubble netting" the humpbacks are famous for. We saw lots of surfacing to breath and a few whale tails as they dove deeper to find fish, or maybe they were trying to avoid us, but that was about it. Maybe I had become a little jaded by my first day cruising and the display I witnessed in my first post.

One of the highlights of the trip was coming up on a sea otter while chasing after the whales. I think maybe it was trying to take a nap until we came along, since it seemed to have wrapped itself up in some kelp to help it float.

At any rate, we still had a good time, and saw lots of great scenery on the way out and back to the dock.

Once we got back on land, I was tempted to try the zip line there before we had to be back on the ship. It is touted as the world's longest, at roughly a mile long, with speeds up to about 60mph as you head down.

But, at over $100 a pop, I thought I should save my tourist dollars for something else!

As always, thanks for looking!