Alaska...absolutely breathtaking

The Adventure Begins

Alaska is one of the most beautiful and wild places on earth, filled with gleaming blue glaciers, magnificent bald eagles, crystal clear streams, bear, wolves, fish, and whales. We went to find wildlife and picturesque scenes and we were not disappointed. Not in the least. Whenever a new show is produced for our main icon, Shamu, the most incredible shots are sought for our accompanying giant movie screen. In order to best get information about killer whales to our audiences, we show behavior from around the world. Some live, with Shamu and family, others filmed. For the Shamu Show hosted by Jack Hanna, we found ourselves in Alaska.

A pair of humpback flukes prepare to disappear into the icy waters

There were several events that stood out from the rest, even though all were memorable. There was one early morning when humpback whales were sighted off the starboard side. The crew readied small inflatable boats to get a closer look. I got on the film crew’s boat, so was one of the first ones out. As we neared the location of one of these gigantic mammals, we saw an incredible sight - the whale was feeding. One of the methods humpbacks use to catch the tons of fish they need to survive is to encircle a whole school while expelling air out of their blowholes. This effectively creates a "bubble net" which the fish do not cross.

A humpback rises from the center of the bubble-net

As we approached the scene, we could see thousands of fish seemingly boiling at the surface of the water. The whale had done an excellent job of rounding up millions of fish into a tight ball and trapping them within this perceived net. All the whale had to do now was dive underneath, and with mouth open, swim to the surface. The sight was extraordinary! The whale comes shooting up through this enormity of fish with its massive mouth wide open. Water and fish pour out the sides as the baleen closes down on the catch, but the mouthful probably takes in hundreds of pounds in one run. This individual continues this feeding method for a good half hour. We watched and filmed silently, in awe. After eating, he swam slowly over to some floating kelp and rubbed on it - seemingly a comforting massage after a satisfying meal.

This humpback flukes are trailing a stand of kelp

Watching glaciers "calve" was another experience I won’t soon forget. These frozen cliffs of water, turned bluish with their density, were a beautiful sight rising hundreds of feet into the air. When pieces fall off, it’s called calving, and until I saw this happen relatively close, I had no idea of their size and mass. You first hear a loud crack, like gunfire, and then the thunderous noise which accompanies the break. The portion falls into the water below with a gigantic boom. What appeared to be a small piece of ice compared to the wall before you, was actually big enough to create a wave which rocked the boat about a mile away. That night, leaving our first of many glacier bays, moonlight reflected off the surfaces, and hauled out seals dotted the many broken up pieces of ice, some of the seals with "calves" of their own.

A glacier descends from the mountain valley directly into the frigid bay

A male killer whale breaks the surface

Since we were visiting Alaska to get footage for our new Shamu Show, I can’t leave out our last day, when we finally saw killer whales. We had been looking for them the whole trip and some might have given up hope, but all of a sudden, a male and female pair came into view, hunting seals and sea lions off a small island. Once again the smaller boats were readied and off we went, to get a bit closer to understanding the incredible animals with which we worked. I have been in the water with killer whales off and on for the past 20 years. Their power and intelligence having always made the biggest impression on me. They have the ability to easily tear us in two and yet they have the desire to work with us when we provide them an interesting, stimulating and fun environment. Working safely with killer whales in their element on a daily basis requires a strong relationship based on providing positive motivations and a wide variety of reinforcers. The day we saw the killer whales reminded us of just how powerful and cunning they must be in order to survive in the wild. Trying to keep them in sight while not disturbing them was challenging, and we lost them often, only to see them reappear off in the distance. At one point, our small rubber boat was waiting to spot them again, and I was focused on a harbor seal about 100 yards away, calmly bobbing in the light swell. One second later, one of the whales surged out of the water, grabbed the seal and disappeared underwater. The second came up right after and within seconds, the seal had been shared between the two. We could hardly believe what had happened right in front of us, and there wasn’t much evidence left to prove it. We returned to our big boat with renewed respect and a first hand account of the hunting skills of the aptly named killer whale.