Page updated April 19, 2008

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BACKGROUND These tours are designed to provide better photo opportunities than are possible on my regular tours, which serious photographers may find limiting. As a photographer myself, I shoot as much as I can during my regular tours. However, needing to pilot the boat and be an attentive tour guide for up to six clients often leaves me little time for photography. With tours that are designed specifically for photography, I aim to enhance photo ops for both other photographers and for myself. The rationale is listed below, as is a working list of project ideas. This page is being actively developed, and will be upgraded periodically with additional representative photographs.

Horned puffins nest in Prince William Sound.

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Iceberg detail, College Fjord. Generally, the bigger the glacier, the bigger the iceberg. Columbia Bay, College Fjord and Icy Bay host the Sound's biggest glaciers and icebergs. . Orcas occur year-round in Prince William Sound, but are the most common in late summer.

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RATIONALE FOR PHOTOGRAPHY TOURS

• These tours will follow the regulations, observation guidelines and principles of ethical field practices espoused by:
  • National Marine Fisheries Service
  • Alaska Wilderness Recreation and Ecotourism Association
  • North American Nature Photography Association
  • Alaska Society of Outdoor and Nature Photograhers

• The number of clients will be limited to three per trip on day trips, and two per trip on overnighters. This will give everyone enough room to respond to the wildlife's often dynamic behavior around the boat without us getting in each others way, and also provide ample room for our equipment.

• Tours will focus on various projects and locations in PWS, and they will be flexible enough to respond to spontaneous photo ops that arise during a trip. Photographers who may feel constrained by these offerings may, of course, choose to charter a custom trip for their project.

• Most shooting will be from the boat, but beaching the boat may sometimes be desirable. However, since I do not have a guide permit for Chugach National Forest (the major land manager for PWS), I cannot actively guide nor accompany clients if they venture onto CNF land on their own while the boat is beached.

• To maximize shooting time, travel time will be kept to a minimum.

• Rates will be kept to the minimum needed for boat operating expenses plus a modest guide fee.

• Weather - On average, May and June have the best weather -- however, there is a lot of variation around the averages, and the last two summers have been wetter than normal. July is generally a mix of sunny, partly sunny and overcast days with or without rain. Rainfall generally starts increasing by mid-August, but we can also get stretches of good weather well into September.

• Tide - With the Sound's 16-foot tidal range, tide height is a major consideration that influences the occurrence and behavior of many wildlife species at any given location.

• Time of Day - Time of day is important for finding some seabirds at their nesting colonies, especially in early season.

This is a working list that will be fine-tuned as projects evolve.

• Spring Wildlife - May to early June. Duration, 8-10 hours. Mountain Goats, Steller Sea Lions, Harbor Seals, chance for Humpback Whales, Orcas and Dall's Porpoises. Fin Whales seen in area last two Mays. Also both Horned and Tufted Puffins, Parakeet Auklets, Pigeon Guillemots; migrating shorebirds early-mid May, including Surfbirds, Red-necked Phalaropes, others; resident Black-legged Kittiwakes, gulls and Black Oystercatchers; late-migrating loons and grebes.

• Passage Canal - May to early June, 2-4 hours. Whittier lies at the head of Passage Canal, so minimal travel time needed. Subjects: Mountain Goats, May. Large nesting colony of Black-legged Kittiwakes, where Glaucous-winged Gulls, Pigeon Guillemots, and sometimes Bald Eagles are also seen. Parasitic Jaegers chasing kittiwakes, best from mid summer on. Some chance for Humpback Whales, May-June. Scenic waterfalls, distant glaciers. Black Bears sometimes seen above the kittiwake colony.

• College Fjord - College Fjord is a treasure trove of wildlife, tidewater glaciers, icebergs, waterfalls and spectacular scenery. Wildlife includes good concentrations of Sea Otters and Harbor Seals, which haul out on icebergs. Birds include nesting Bald eagles, Mew Gulls, Arctic Terns, Black Oystercatchers, Harlequin Ducks, Common Mergansers, Marbled Murrelets and the endangered-petitioned Kittlitz's Murrelet. One sub-project will involve beaching the boat in a scenic estuary through a tide cycle, where I've never been at low tide because the estuary is accessible by boat only on higher tides. Variations include a medium-long day to do the lower fjord (w/o glaciers), one long day to do the entire fjord w/o visiting the estuary, and two days to do both.

• Summer Wildlife - North-central PWS, including Wells Passage, Naked & Smith Isls.: Steller sea lions, harbor seals, chance for whales and porpoises. Fork-tailed storm petrels, tufted and horned puffins, other seabirds.

• Black Bears - Anchor boat off salmon spawning stream through one tide cycle. Late summer after Chum and Pink Salmon are running best time, but good chance for bears early summer too. At least 8 hours.

• Whale Photography - Late summer and into September in southern PWS, which increases chances for Orcas as well as the more common Humpback Whales. Two-day project.

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I welcome questions, comments and suggestions from prospective clients. Thank you, and stay tuned!

Gerry Sanger

Email: sea(at)alaska.net . . . Phone: 1-888-471-2312