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Whale Watching In Alaska

Whale Watching Tours

Whale watching tours in the state of Alasks offer some of the best whale watching opportunities. Cruising among some of the world’s largest mammals and observing their behavior is an experience like no other.

Here are 5 great whale watching tours to check out all over Alaska:

Phillips Cruises & Tours – 26 Glacier Cruise
Kenai Fjords Tours
Stan Stephens Cruises
Major Marine Kenai Fjords Cruise
Whale Watching Adventure

Whale Behavior

Like all mammals, whales breathe air into their lungs, making it easy to spot them on the surface of the water as they come up for air. This behavior is called spouting, and is the most commonly-seen whale behavior on our cruises. In addition to spouting, you may see behaviors such as breaching or lunging. Breaching is when a whale leaps more than half-way out of the water, and lunging is when a whale leaps less than half way out of the water. Why do whales breach? Some experts believe that breaching and lunging are part of the feeding habits of whales, while others believe that this behavior is simple playfulness.

You may also witness spyhopping, when a whale sticks its head out of the water to examine its surroundings. Finally, you may see tail lobbing or tail slapping. Tail lobbing is when a whale lifts its tail fluke out of the water and slaps it down on the water’s surface, often repeating the movement several times. Tail slapping is when a whale uses its fins or flippers to slap the surface of the water.