28. Naturalist Has Whale of a Time in Alaska

Every morning, the 25-year-old naturalist sets out across the waves on a wildlife quest—to spot majestic humpback whales feeding in Alaska's rich waters.

"They are so huge and graceful. There is such a mystery about them," she said as the first tail fluke of the day is sighted and tourists aboard the jet-powered catamaran let out excited cries of delight.

Everything about Alaska is big—the state is the same size as England, France, Italy and Spain put together—and nothing fires the imagination more than admiring these giant creatures cavorting in the icy waters.

Against a majestic backdrop of snow-capped peaks and glaciers, up to 400 humpback whales gorge themselves every summer in Alaska's nutrient-rich waters before heading south to their mating and calving grounds in Mexico and Hawaii.

For thousands of tourists who come by cruise ship to Alaska every summer, the wilderness is the big attraction—from sea lions and seals to brown bears and bald eagles.

But whale watching must rank as the biggest draw of all—and that is where Dunker issues a word of warning about how big the business should become.

"I think we have reached saturation point. It is a constant battle. In terms of wildlife, I do not think it would be good to add more boats. The whales have a lot of visitors," she told Reuters on one of her twice daily trips out of Auke Bay near the Alaskan capital, Juneau.

Stop in the Name of Whales

"For their own good, I think there ought to be a limit," she said as the catamaran captain spotted another humpback, keeping back 100 yards (meters) from the whale so as not to disturb its habitat.

Man has always walked a delicate environmental tightrope—and his capacity for inflicting horrendous damage on nature was rammed home in 1989.

The Exxon Valdez supertanker spilled nearly 11 million gallons (41 million liters) of crude oil into the rich waters of Prince William Sound. The slick spread, the shoreline was ravaged by the ecological disaster and up to 645 000 birds were killed.

But today, thankfully, no such nightmare haunts Alaska's famed Inside Passage, a real treasure trove for abundant wildlife.

Allen Marine Tours, which have a fleet of over 20 vessels and lay claim to be the biggest day-cruise company in Alaska, are so confident that they offer $100 cash back if no whales are spotted on your sightseeing trip.

"They have never had to give a single dollar back all season. These people certainly know where the whales are," said Anna Arato, Norwegian Cruise Line shore excursion manager aboard the Norwegian Wind cruise ship.

Cruise ships are another vantage point for whale sighting. "For our passengers it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience," she said as the latest eager batch of sightseers scanned the horizon in search of humpback whales.

Excited "Oohs and Aahs"

Dunker, who works for Allen Marine, loves the passengers' excited reaction as they scuttle across the deck and excitedly cry out "Whale on starboard side."

"I hear lots of oohs and aahs when two whales dive together. You can feel the enthusiasm," she said.

She gently pokes fun at the cruise ship passengers when explaining "The whales feed for 20 hours a day and take in about one million calories a day—that is about what you get on the cruise ships!"

Whales fascinate her because there is so much we do not know about them.

"There are always more questions," she said. "The researchers I meet at marine conferences say they wish they could be out with me viewing the whale behavior and not back writing research papers."

She will never forget her first sighting as a child.

"We were fishing on a rock on Douglas Island with my father. A whale suddenly shot up in front of us. My sister said Ts it going to eat us?"'

And the whales sightseeing business gives Dunker an invaluable meal ticket out of Alaska every winter. "It is tough to live through a winter here and stay sane with just six hours of daylight," she said.