From our trip to Alaska last month and my first time seeing a killer whale in the wild.

We weren’t more than 20 minute out of Seward into Resurrection Bay when the captain reported spotting them. I saw a total of five from what they said is a local pod although there probably were more.

Not a lot of action beyond them surfacing and blowing but it was very fun to see for this landlubber.

Returning to Seward, Alaska on our day-long boat trip, the captain reported seeing a humpback whale. We stopped and waited, anticipating it would surface again after a few minutes.

Indeed it did and while it didn’t give us a great look, we did get to see its arching back and its fluke as it dived again. Our view was fleeting, lasting only a few seconds, but it was thrilling to see one of these massive creatures of the ocean.