Prince William Sound, Alaska Wildlife, glaciers, wilderness Personalized, value-added tours Casually informative Departing Whittier "the western gateway to Prince Wm. Sound"

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Tour Prices and Fuel Cost

Tour prices listed below assume a price of $3.00/gal for unleaded gas (boat fuel) at the Whittier fuel dock. A fuel surcharge (or discount) based on the actual fuel price on the date of your tour will be applied to these prices. Unleaded gas at the fuel dock was $3.18/gal on June 22, 2009.

Background

These trips focus on wildlife hotspots, many of them little known and seldom visited. Capt. Gerry's expertise, plus our boat's fore deck, covered aft deck, shallow water capabilities and quiet engines provide excellent opportunities to see and photograph wildlife without disturbing them. Our careful adherence to protection guidelines assures that your trip will have a minimal affect on the wildlife's natural behavior. Whale watching is our specialty and we have been quite successful at finding humpback whales during our long-day (10-hour) whale trips far into the southern Sound. We see killer whales (orcas) less often than humpbacks, but the odds of seeing them go up a bit in late summer. We occasionally see California grey, minke and fin whales as well. Our Glacier & Wildlife tours in the northwestern part of the Sound feature the same glaciers and wildlife visited by larger tour boats that operate from Whittier, but whales are seen far less often in that part of the Sound. However, our long day whale trip may be extended to see Icy Bay's magificent Chenega Glacier (see below). This black bear was too busy eating pink salmon near a small stream in late August to notice our boat drifting just offshore. Salmon carcasses are an important food source for a variety of wildlife like these glaucous-winged gulls.

Humpback whales are often seen in groups of two or more, and sometimes as many as 15-20 feed in the same general area. We saw this cow and her calf near Montague Island in late August, 2001. These four humpbacks repeatedly surfaced and dove together during one of our 2002 whale trips. . . SCHEDULING We use open scheduling. Book any tour on any open date or join a booked tour with your 50% deposit. Toll-free: 1-888-471-2312

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Wilderness Whale Watching

Book Your Whale Trip! Long-Day Whale Trip Long Day Whale Trip + Icy Bay Season May through September mid-June through September Dates Available? See schedule See schedule How Long? Up to 10 hr and 140 mi Up to 12 hr and 160 mi Cost Plus/minus fuel cost adjustment $226 (3-person min) $252 (4-person min)

All Whale Trips Include: Snacks, fruit juice and beach stop/hot beverage $6 each Whittier taxes added to all prices $1 of each fare will be donated to the North Gulf Oceanic Society or Eye of the Whale Research to help support their long-term work on the whales of Prince William Sound. . Discounts: 10% off if 6 total passengers Kids under 12, 1/3 off if at least 4 adults 10% off early/late season if at least 4 adults

What to Expect Long-Day Trip . This is a true wilderness whale watching experience -- we seldom see other boats of any kind, let alone other whale-watching boats. We cruise feeding grounds far into the southern Sound with the best chances for humpbacks and orcas. We travel through spectacular scenery and we usually see a variety of wildlife, which often includes Dall's porpoises, Steller sea lions, harbor seals, sea otters, puffins, occasionally black bears, and sometimes minke, fin or gray whales. Icy Bay Option . At extra cost, the Long-Day trip may be extended 1-2 hrs to visit Icy Bay and magnificent Chenega Glacier. This option is unavailable May and early June due to excessive ice. Read this unsolicited "IgoYougo" report of one of our Icy Bay option tours in 2006. A pod of orcas cruises alongside our boat during a whale trip, September 2006. . No two whale trips are exactly alike and this unknown dimension adds a flavor of adventure. We carefully honor the minimum 100-yd approach regulation, but humpbacks and orcas often approach our boat much closer. Occasionally, we experience thrilling, very close visits by humpbacks, as demonstrated by this YouTube video taken by one of our clients in 2008.

Chenega Glacier is a mile wide and rises to 1,200 feet a mere mile from its face. 100's of harbor seals haul out on icebergs here. Photo © Gerry Sanger / Sound Expressions Gray whales are most likely to be seen in Prince William Sound in spring near the Gulf of Alaska. . All whale tours take up to an hour break for lunch at a remote beach, where Capt. Gerry stays with the boat in the intertidal zone, leaving you free to explore in the immediate vicinity on your own.

Marine Wildlife Tour

When: Any open date, May - September . . . . How Long? Up to 8 hours and 110 miles.
Cost: $184 plus tax
. . . . . . . 2-passenger minimum in peak season if booked more than a month ahead,
. . . . . . . 4-passenger minimum if booked less than a month ahead.
Discounts: 10% off if 6 total passengers; Children under 12, 33% off if at least 4 adult fares.

This is a good all-round wildlife trip, with good chances for humpback whales in May and June. On all trips, we keep a lookout for whales and porpoises as we travel to the Sound's biggest Steller sea lion rookery. We'll also visit the Sound's biggest waterfall and will likely encounter harbor seals, sea otters, bald eagles, both horned and tufted puffins, Arctic terns and other marine birds. We take a break at a remote beach, where Capt. Gerry stays with the beached boat in the intertidal zone, leaving you free to explore in the immediate vicinity on your own. Read the unsolicited report of an Australian woman who did this tour in 2007. Photo copyright © Gerry Sanger / Sound Expressions. Steller sea lions are a highlight of this tour. Breeding-size bulls like this one weigh in at 1,500 pounds or more.

U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service photo Tufted puffins usually nest in earthen burrows, but a few nest in crevices in the side of a sea cliff like this pair.

Wildlife -- half-day

When: Any open date, May - mid-August . . . . How Long? Up to 5 hrs. and 60 miles
Cost: $114 plus tax, with a 4-passenger minimum
Discounts: 10% off if 6 total passengers; Children under 12, 33% off if at least 4 adult fares.

This tour follows much of the route of the Marine Wildlife trip, but at a more liesurely pace. Some chance for whales and porpoises in early season. We visit harbor seal and Steller sea lion haulouts, and will likely see puffins, auklets (lower left photo), pigeon guillemots, black-legged kittiwakes, glaucous-winged gulls, Arctic terns, jaegers, cormorants, black oystercatchers, and a variety of other seabirds. Harbor seals at rocks that we visit on this tour. Parakeet auklet photo by USFWS.

A group from the Audubon Society, Anchorage Chapter enjoyed a perfect day for this tour. Parasitic jaegers ambush black-legged kittiwakes headed for the nesting colony near Whittier to rob them of fish intended for their chicks. Bottom left photo: Parakeet auklets are seen at their nesting colonies only in the morning, so they are missed by the tourboats.

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Updated June 22, 2009.