Humpback Whale Research With Adventure Charters Sitka
Our Sitka whale watching tours are led by Capt. GE, who holds a B.S. in Marine Biology from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. With hands-on marine research experience, he brings a strong scientific foundation to every whale watching trip in Sitka.
During his undergraduate studies, Capt. GE worked in marine research labs including the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology at Coconut Island, assisting with shark tagging projects, and the Alan Friedlander Fisheries Ecology Lab, where he studied fish behavior and flight initiation distance in reef species. He also co-authored a scientific research paper as an undergraduate.
Now operating in the rich waters of Southeast Alaska, our tours focus on the incredible humpback whale populations that migrate through the region each year. On board, guests experience science-based whale watching that goes beyond simple wildlife viewing. Trips include in-depth discussions of humpback whale behavior, feeding strategies, migration patterns, and the broader marine ecosystem of Sitka Sound.
We also use a live hydrophone when conditions allow, giving guests the opportunity to listen to whale vocalizations and learn how researchers study and interpret whale communication in the wild.
Our goal is to provide an educational, research-driven Sitka whale watching experience rooted in marine science, conservation, and a deep respect for Alaska’s coastal ecosystem.
WHALE BEHAVIOR
Humpback whales in Sitka, Alaska display a variety of surface and social behaviors. Common behaviors observed on our tours include:
-
when the whale launches its body out of the water and crashes back down in a powerful splash.
-
a rare, cooperative hunting technique where groups of whales create spirals of bubbles to trap herring before lunging upward to feed. This extraordinary behavior makes Sitka whale watching one of the best opportunities in Alaska to witness humpback whale bubble net feeding in the wild.
-
happens when a Humpback Whale repeatedly lifts and smacks its tail (fluke) against the ocean surface, creating loud splashes that may help with communication or display.
-
when a Humpback Whale powerfully lunges forward and slaps the water with the base of its tail, creating a huge splash.
-
when a Humpback Whale rises vertically with its head above the water to look around its surroundings.
-
when a Humpback Whale lifts one of its long side fins and slaps it against the water’s surface.
Capt. GE founded the North Pacific Humpback Whale Project, beginning with research on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii in 2019 and now expanded to Sitka, Alaska. — drawing on personal whale research and photo documentation dating back to March of 2018. Using fluke photo-identification — a method in which the unique pigmentation and shape of each whale's tail is used to identify individuals, much like a fingerprint — the project has catalogued over 350 individual whales across both regions. Every sighting is logged with GPS coordinates, behavioral notes, and photographic evidence, building a dataset that tracks migration routes, population health, and individual life histories over time. When the same whale is confirmed in both Hawaii and Alaska, it becomes a verified cross-match — direct evidence of a migration spanning more than 2,400 miles of open ocean. When you join a tour with Adventure Charters Sitka, you may be helping us identify one.