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Humpback Whales of Sitka with Sandy Zelasko
April 4 - April 7
| It’s age old behavior and if you are a wildlife photographer it’s one of the most exciting action you’ll have an opportunity to photograph. Humpback whale bubble net feeding. This is a cooperative feeding or hunting method used by pods of humpback whales in southeast Alaska. It is a learned behavior which uses vocalizations to coordinate and effectively execute a “bubble net” that surrounds and stuns their prey so they can all feed.
In Sitka, for one month in early spring, that prey is herring. One whale begins the process by exhaling out its blowhole underwater. Soon others join in and a spiral of bubbles reach the surface as the pod simultaneously swim upwards with mouths open to feed on the trapped fish. That is the precise moment you’ll want to be ready to capture the action. During a 2023 trip we witnessed a minimum of 50 bubble net feedings each day allowing multiple chances to capture these magnificent and powerful creatures in their natural habitat. Your time in Sitka, Alaska will be geared toward safely photographing humpback whales from our vessel in and around the Sitka Sound. We’ll spend three eight-hour days on the water hanging out with pods of whales and witnessing majestic breaches, lunge feeding, fin slapping, spy hopping, tail lobbing and more. Seeing bald eagles, cormorants, pelagic birds, otters among other wildlife is probable. |
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