Alaska Humpback Whales

Both of today's photographs come from our July 2007 trip to Alaska. They were both taken on separate days in different parts of the state. The top image was taken while on a cruise out of Valdez and the bottom on was taken while cruising from Seward, Alaska.

This was the third time we have gone whale watching in the past decade. We did trips out of Virginia Beach, Virginia, we had no luck seeing whales that time but with temperatures in the 60's and it was February it was still a great time. We also went whale watching off the coast of Massachusetts, we did see whales and sharks that time.

We did two trips in Alaska because one was to be better for Glaciers and the other for sea life. The sea life (Seward) trip really didn't pan out. We still had fun but would have cut that trip if we had to do over again. It is hard to shoot whales because you never know where they are going to show up at. It could be the other side of the ship, far off or in an area that you can't see because of other people on the ship. Once you see them they give you very little time to compose your shot and get it right.

Maybe in a few days I will post a few more whale photographs and some facts on humpback whales.