Orca prowling the beach pic

As usual, cool pic!

Do you know how step the drop off is? How deep do you thing that water is?

Solid. I have got to make Alaska one day for scenes like that.

If you had to guess what would that Orca be hunting?

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If you had to guess what would that Orca be hunting?

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Seals that's on the beach waiting for them to go fishing

Figured something along those lines. Gotta love the action.

There's a little road from Skagway to a NPS campground near the trailhead to the Chilkoot Trail (Dyea, maybe? It's been ~15 years...) At several points, it parallels the northern end of the inlet Skagway is on. I saw Orcas cruising around in there. The inlet wasn't that wide, maybe a 1/2 mile across, but I guess there was something to eat in there.

I took a day cruise out Resurrection Bay to see the Kenai Fjords glaciers. During her introduction lecture, the NPS guide said that for the previous 3 or 4 years, on Aug. 3rd (or 5th, or 1st, whatever day it was) that a Super Pod of Orcas had been see in that area. I made a joke that I'm sure orcas were checking their Palm Pilots to see what was on their schedule that day. I was there primarily to see the glaciers and I knew they would be there. Orcas would be a bonus.

All day, no orcas. A variety of other really cool stuff - birds of all descriptions, sea lion, and of course, glaciers - but no orcas. We're heading in at about 4:00pm and the boat turns around. The guide announces that the orcas have been spotted. We run for 15 or 20 minutes and it's the most amazing thing I've ever seen. There were orcas everywhere. Seriously, at least twenty-five. Probably thirty, maybe forty. They were everywhere, but in a big group made up of smaller groups. We stopped to give them some space, but eventually they moved closer and a couple even swam under the bow of our boat. It was incredible! We watched for a while and then left to go in.

I asked the guide if the orcas were there every day and if she just told every group there was a superpod on their particular day. She said, "No, it's a real thing. We're not sure why it's happened on the same day for the past few years." Bizarre!

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There's a little road from Skagway to a NPS campground near the trailhead to the Chilkoot Trail (Dyea, maybe? It's been ~15 years...) At several points, it parallels the northern end of the inlet Skagway is on. I saw Orcas cruising around in there. The inlet wasn't that wide, maybe a 1/2 mile across, but I guess there was something to eat in there.

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Yeah the road to Dyea that parallels Tayia inlet. Usually see bears in the sedges at Dyea. I had one swim out toward my kayak once.

Coming to Alaska this July, what's the best tour or whatever to see mendenhal glacier? Really want to see the ice tunnels

You can get guided hikes to the ice caves with above and beyond AK. LINK

I highly recommend but also will say that a guide for anyone unfamiliar with the area is a must. These folks will outfit you.

The ice caves are incredible.

Thanks. We will be coming last week of July, so hopefully lots of those Orcas will be around. We have a day in Haines, so planning on a trip up to Skagway for whale watching and the Davidson glacier. For our time, 3 days in Anchorage, before cruise we are debating the big cost of flying for a day to Brooks Falls for the Bears, any chance you've been there ?