Wildlife & Wilderness

Brown bear are large, strong, powerful, and silent through the thickest of brush. They will out climb, out run, and out battle a human. Luckily, most of these "brownies" either don't care or don't want to be near people. However, Becky and I have several friends & acquaintances who have unfortunately been mauled. This usually occurs when sow & cubs are surprised, a male feels that its food source is threatened, or they have just awakened and a grumpy. 

Humpback whale breath is bad! Being near them is wonderful & enchanting, but hold your breath if downwind on a boat. These creatures are so large & prehistoric that they require 30-tons of food each day. Luckily they get that here in our resource rich waters that are fed by the pristine water of the glacier. Silt from the glacier creates curtains of murky water that krill and other small fishies prefer to inhabit. Most of the SE-AK humpbacks make the long journey from Baja Mexico or the Hawaiian Island chains to come get their fill in the Inside Passage. 

We named our boat, Orca Rose for a reason! Orca are the apex marine mammals of the ocean waters. They do what they want, go where they want, and do it when they want... in short, they are amazing! We've observed incredible intelligence in these giant dolphins (that do in fact kill whales and sharks), but also have a culture & hierarchy worth reflecting upon. We are planning an in-depth video soon...

We see black bear all the time while trail running, biking, hiking, spring skiing, and driving "out the road" in the Juneau area. Making noise, for example yelling out, "hey bear" every couple minutes, bells on the shoes, or loud music on your smartphone is helpful to alert the local population of well-habituated "garbage-bears" from being alarmed.

Harbor porpoise are slower moving and travel in small groups compare to the more social Dahl porpoise who tend to be acrobatic and speedy as they skim across the water.

The sea lion bark can be heard for miles. They become noticeably quieter when a pod of Orca enter the area. It's shocking to see an animal weighing several hundred pounds to over a thousand pounds get tossed out of the water like sausages on a Saturday morning frying pan.