Brown bears and river otters

[maggie mac]

I am doing the research for a group of 7 who are doing a HAL cruisetour in Aug/Sept of this year. We will be in:

8/23-8/25 Vancouver

8/27 Ketchikan

8/28 Icy Strait Point

8/29 Juneau

8/30 Sitka

9/1 Kenai Fjord cruise and transfer to Anchorage

9/2 Anchorage to Denali

9/3 Denali (tundra wilderness tour)

9/4 Denali to Fairbanks

9/5 Fairbanks

 

One of our group would like to see brown bears and one would like to see river otters. Given our itinerary and timeframe, what is the best place and excursion to see either of these animals?

 

Also, what would be the most opportune time, place, and excursion to see them if we were to make another trip?

 

I have been visiting this site for a few weeks now and just want to say thank you to everyone for all the wonderful information.

 

Margaret

[Budget Queen]

You will see brown bears out of Denali Park, but these are nonsalmon eating bears. For those consider a tour out of Hoonah. I went last year with http://teckkoutfitters.com/

 

I know nothing about "river otters" and know of no area to see them. If it is sea otters, then definately Sitka, and Seward. Hopefully you have at least 6 hours on the water with your Kenai Fjords boat trip???

 

You are going peak time for sighting bears. Here is a photo sample of wildlife on my last trip, same timeframe as you. http://community.webshots.com/user/budgetqueen

 

Only suggestion I have for your next trip is to go independent. The Denali Park bear photo was after the Tundra Wilderness turn around , past Eielson. And this is prime bear area, where I see bears almost always in this area. So go on the Park Shuttle to at least Fish Creek next time.

[AkSusan]

Margaret,

 

Have never seen any river otters in my whole time here (over 28 years total now) except in our zoo. Seen lot of sea otters though, especially in Seward.

 

You should have good success as Budget Queen seeing bears in Denali. But then again with all wildlife in this state is hit and miss.

 

Susan in Anchorage :)

[maggie mac]

Thanks for the information. I knew river otters would be much more elusive but thought maybe someone knew of an excursion/location where our chances would be maximized.

 

Budget Queen,

I suspected that Icy Strait was our best chance for brown bear outside of Denali so thanks for the confirmation. I will pass the info along and see if we can't get a group together.

 

Yes, the Kenai cruise is 6 hours. I checked after reading all your posts here.

 

The Denali tour is part of our tour package. I know you've told people on Princess cruisetours that if it was their first time and they didn't have their own transportation, the tundra wilderness tour was an ok choice. Well, that's definitely our first time and we won't have our own transportation. However, we will be staying in HAL's hotel (McKinley Chalet Lodge I think?). If we decided to try to cancel the tundra tour and do the shuttles instead, would we have the same transportation issues as the Princess people?

 

And definitely yes, next time if I have anything to say about it, we will do the land portion independently. I have been preparing word documents on each of our locations for our group and I have a separate one just for the places and excursions we won't get to or don't have time for this time.

 

Thanks again for all the information.

 

 

Margaret

[wolfie11]

I see river otters frequently along the coast. They live in the woods and feed in the intertidal/subtidal. They are often seen around small docks. I would ask around at Hoonah, as they are in this area and they have a small boat harbor.

[kennicott]

I was going to post on this but decided the best bet was at Kodiak for both Brown Bear and Land Otters, then I noticed the rates at the lodge, $1,300. per.

 

Land Otters are sometimes called River Otters. They are all over Alaska. You see them more often in the winter because they get out on top of the ice and play around. They are black and have long tails so their tracks are destinctive because the tail drags in the snow, their gait is sort of like a diving lope. So does a Wolverine's tail drag but the otters are always close to the water and their tracks lead in and out of it.

 

Do a Google search--"Land Otters Alaska viewing". All kinds of avice there.

 

Good Luck

[maggie mac]

Thanks for the information. Looks like our best chance for both brown bears and river otters is Icy Strait. I'll pass the information along.

 

 

Thanks again,

Margaret

[JmzandJojo]

You might try the "Captian's Choice Beach Trek and Wildlife Tour" in Sitka. It was absolutely in the top two excursions. The boat was wonderful and roomy, the naturalist enthusiastic and knowledgable. We got to roam around an island beach and really touch Alaska. We saw a whale lunge feeding head first right up to the boat, a whole "raft" of sea otters playing in an area called "the nursery", stellar sea lions, harbor seals, tons of starfish that we got to hold, eagles galore one on a nest, and so much more. Since you'll be there at bear season I'm sure you'd see them on the beaches and at streams as well. Anywhere you choose, the wildlife is abundant!. We did see a Grizzly Mom and 3 cubs at Kuzmateen on an excursion in Prince Rupert. They are AWSOME animals to see in the wild!!!