Friends,
I wholeheartedly second what Kevin has said. I had hoped to do one of the CA to
AK cruises this year, but didn't work out. I did a repositioning cruise from
San Diego to Vancouver last spring, and it was fantastic. This was on a
mid-size Holland America ship, and we didn't get a room with a balcony, instead
we just spent the whole day (every day) out on deck. Kevin's version would be
more comfortable I'm sure, as it was cool the whole trip.
These cruises are a great way to get far enough out to have a good chance at
those birds that really require a grueling run to try and get to on one day
trips off the west coast, in particular the Pterodroma trifecta of
Cook's/Murphy'/Hawaiian. I've done this both ways, and both have their merits,
but leisurely watching the petrels thru your scope is a nice option to bouncing
around on a smaller boat. Photo ops/views were at least as good as I got in
the traditional method.
Cruise ship birding is definitely something I see happening again in my future!
Good Birding!!
Mike ToddMcKenzie, TNbirder1@bellsouth.netGalleries by Michael Todd
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On Monday, June 29, 2015 9:49 PM, kbreault <kbreault@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Trip Report: Birding by Cruise to AlaskaAs a graduation present for my
daughter and one of herfriends, I decided that a non-birding part of our recent
Northwest/Alaska tripwould be a cruise from Vancouver, BC to Alaska. Of course,
in birding preparationis the critical element and I tried to do everything
possible to increasebirding opportunities on the ship, even if it turned out
that the birding wasnot good. So I got a balcony cabin on the port (left,
facing forward), which isthe ocean side on trips north to AK. I also made sure
my cabin was as close tothe bow as possible, and that it was not too high up.
Having a scope is alsovery useful. The stable platform of a large ship easily
allows scopes (anythingmore than about 25-30x will generally not be useful
depending on wave movement).But despite the preparation I was not optimistic.
My understanding was that birdingwould be poor (I had heard that you can’t see
a thing on cruise ships, birdsdon’t get close to large ships, that cruise ships
don’t go in areas that areproductive of birds, etc.), and that was certainly
okay with me as this was thenon-birding part of the larger trip. My goal was
simply to pick up a handful ofstate/province birds and leave the serious
birding to when we landed in Alaska.And I could not have been more wrong!At the
beginning of the voyage I was not happy with the largesize of the ship (a
“midsize” vessel among cruise ships), but it turned outthat smaller ships
(“expedition” ships) take an even more inner “InsidePassage” route that begins
near Klemtu and continues to Porcher Island inBritish Columbia. That means less
pelagic birding than if you sail the QueenCharlotte Sound (Cape Scott to Cape
St. James) as did my ship. So to begin, thebirding was fairly slow going in BC
waters and in the Inside Passage in AK (inAK the Inside Passage goes from Fox
Point north to Skagway and then west toGlacier Bay and Cape Spencer), but once
in Queen Charlotte Sound and HecateStrait the birding was pretty productive
with lots of the usual stuff includingmany Sooty Shearwaters. (The very common
Sooty was my first pelagic bird forthe trip but it was first seen being
harassed by gulls from my hotel room inVancouver!) Much more productive was the
sailing after Glacier Bay, and by farthe best birding was after Yakutat Bay
(Hubbard Glacier) in the Gulf of Alaska.The captain had warned me that seas in
the Gulf were likely to be 7’-9’ but itturned out the seas were rarely above
2’. And since ice and fog kept us out of muchof Yakutat Bay (and so we were not
able to see Hubbard Glacier), the captainslowed the ship a bit for the trip in
the Gulf. Great conditions for birding--ifbirds were present.And the birding
was great! All told, many species, many hundredsof individuals, including
albatrosses, Fulmars, petrels, storm-petrels, loons,cormorants, ducks, gulls,
terns, jaegers, alcids (including the two puffins mywife and daughter wanted to
see), and an unusual assortment of land birds thatshared some of the
ride—notably a Peregrine Falcon that landed on the balconydirectly above mine,
a resting Gray-cheeked Thrush, and a very anxious and “cheewing”(calling)
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch that we may have picked up on the InsidePassage. The
birds, including the albatrosses, were often very close to theship (as little
as 15-20 meters—although many alcids and ducks were even closerand may have
been quite surprised by the leviathan in their midst). Many of thebirds also
gave great views as they seemed to want to fly along with the ship.One, a
Short-tailed Shearwater, was no more than ten feet from my balcony railfor an
extended amount of time. The only thing I could compare it to was the
behaviorof some gulls, or seeing pelagic birds at the American Museum of
Natural Historyin New York when I was young—a museum view of a very alive
pelagic! Now, I havenot birded off Monterey or similar places in CA, so I don’t
know how that wouldcompare but it might be difficult to top this trip. And note
that in the past onpelagic trips I have often been wet, too cold or too hot,
and sometimes sickfrom motion sickness. None of that on this trip. And when I
did get cold Icould just close my sliding balcony door and watch from the
comfort of mycabin. Another important upside was that unlike the typical
pelagic trip whereyou may have 6-8 hours of good birding on a day trip, I
estimate that I birdedfor about 45-50 hours, and I could have done more. Note
that at this time ofyear the Gulf of Alaska has 20 or so hours of daylight. In
addition, ratherthan rushing around for my next birding destination, or
calculating the amountof time I had left at my current location versus the time
I could spend at thenext location versus the likelihood of picking up the
remaining birds I still needed(much of this, I admit, is the insanity of Total
Ticking), I could comfortablyrest on the ship knowing that an ever changing set
of birds were easily available.All I had to do was look out. In fact, as I
write this I realize that this wasthe only Total Ticking trip in which I felt I
could relax. (Of course, my wifecalls my Total Ticking trips “vacations,” but
typically I work much harder on themthan I do on my regular job!) But the
feeling on this trip was disconcerting atfirst. I found myself thinking: “How
can I not be looking at the water?” It wassimilar to the kind of feeling you
have when as a novice birder you aredisappointed you don’t have the opportunity
to spend time on every bird that vocalizesor flies by. Finally, one important
downside to birding on a cruise ship isthat you are less likely to hear birds
at a distance—the ship does not stop forwildlife. And while you will get more
views of the upper parts of birds, ingeneral that will not significantly
increase your ability to identify them. Forthat, preparation again is the
important thing. Or rather, that and havingnumerous chances to view the birds
as was possible on this trip.Of course, cruising is not for everyone. Cruises
can be veryexpensive especially if you want the kind of accommodations that are
bestsuited for birding. It is true that you can cruise with the Queen Mary or
mostships without spending an arm and a leg if you can accept the lowest level
of accommodation,but at least for me seeing the water from your cabin is
important (importantfor birding, but important too for the entire experience).
Many cruise ships inthe U.S. also have a kind of Las Vegas sensibility that can
be off-putting forsome. The casino (thankfully, the only place on the ship
where you were allowedto smoke), the auctions involving the worst art you are
ever likely to see, theoverpriced and tackiest jewelry, and the ubiquitous food
were rather unusualfor us. However, the quality of food was surprisingly good
with fine vegetarianand Indian fare among the choices. (By far the largest
minority group on theship was South Asians.) There were also several very good
specialty and upscalerestaurants on the ship. Perhaps the most curious food on
this Alaskan trip wasthat all the salmon came from the Atlantic Ocean. The
non-birders with us lovedthe hot tubs, the very close views of the (2) glaciers
in Glacier Bay, thenature lectures by the park rangers at Glacier Bay National
Park (somewhat onthe sentimental side I thought), and the excursions—especially
whale watching,kayaking, and helicopter trips to a glacier. And the birding
wasn’t that bad onsome of these excursions. On the trip to see Humpback Whales
I had 23 speciesof water birds (and three breaching whales). We also saw other
marine mammalson the trip: Steller Seal Lions, Harbor Seals, Killer Whales,
Dall Porpoises,Pacific White-Dolphins, and Sea Otters.So, I did not think I
would ever say this but I am now convinced:at some times and on some routes, a
trip on a cruise ship might be a great wayto bird. Trips out of south Florida
and San Diego or Los Angeles might be worthexploring. I have heard there is one
with an excursion at Catalina Island. Ineed that jay! Given the sheer number of
birds in the Gulf of Alaska, thismight be a good trip for beginners to
intermediate level birders, as they wouldlikely leave the ship with a
significantly greater appreciation for and understandingof pelagic birds. Of
course, having a mentor with a beginner is the best bet. Forthe competitive
birder, Total Tickers and the like, it is not clear to me thatthis cruise is a
necessary part of the itinerary. Indeed, only one bird,Mottled Petrel, on my
checklist of the area came close to indicating thatnorthern Bay of Alaska
should be a target destination, and the bird can be seenin the outer
Aleutians.One last thought. My professional interest is inepidemiology and the
last thing you want is to spend all that money only to getsick on a cruise
ship. Some basic rules are worth repeating. Don’t leave homewithout enough of
your regular medications for the trip. Don’t get on board ifyou are sick, think
you are getting sick or have a chronic illness that maycause you to get sick on
the ship. Medical help will be limited and you may bemany hours away from the
help you need. Use wipes that contain hydrogenperoxide to clean your room
thoroughly at the beginning of the trip and whenneeded or if illness breaks out
on board. Use hand sanitizers and wash yourhands often every day. Use sunscreen
liberally. Bring antihistamine medication(e.g., Zyrtec) even if you do not have
known allergies. Bring medicine formotion sickness that you have tried before
you sail. The expression is: view theship like a city. My ship had 3,000 people
on it including about a third whowere ship employees, so be aware of your
surroundings and be appropriately careful.And of course, if you drink to excess
you may find yourself in it (hoping thatanother birder will see you bobbing
along with the alcids).With regard to my non-birding but duly graduated
andgainfully employed (yes, yes, yes!) daughter, we left her and her friend
shortlyafter the cruise and set out for a more usual birding trip in Alaska.
Thus, I thoughtTN birders might be interested in this somewhat unusual way of
getting there.Let me know if you have any questions. I also put together a
checklist of birdsof northern Gulf of Alaska in May if anyone is interested. As
always, good birdingand good totaling!Kevin BreaultBrentwood, TN
