Alan's Favorite Images

Road trip to Alaska 2007 Galleries

Alaska Trip 2007 - British Columbia : These images were taken in British Columbia, Canada, at the beginning of the Alaska Highway, as we travelled, by road, to Alaska.
All Photos in this Gallery are the copyright of Alan Vernon. All rights reserved.
These images may not be used for Commercial purposes without written permission.

Alaska Trip 2007 - British Columbia

Alaska trip 2007 - Yukon, and Anchorage : These images were taken in The Yukon Territory, Canada, and Anchorage, Alaska as we travelled, by road, to the Kenai Peninsular, Alaska in 2007.
All Photos in this Gallery are the copyright of Alan Vernon. All rights reserved.
These images may not be used for Commercial purposes without written permission.

Alaska trip 2007 - Yukon, and Anchorage

Alaska trip 2007 - Kenai Peninsula : These images were taken on the Kenai peninsula, Alaska during our 2007 road trip to Alaska and back.
All Photos in this Gallery are the copyright of Alan Vernon. All rights reserved.
These images may not be used for Commercial purposes without written permission.

Alaska trip 2007 - Kenai Peninsula

Road Trip to Alaska 2007 - Portage to Skagway : These images were taken, as we travelled by road, from Portage (on the Turnagain Arm near Anchorage) to Skagway via Wasilla AK, Mendaltna AK, Tok AK, Beaver Creek YT, Haines Junction YT, and Whitehorse YT.
All Photos in this Gallery are the copyright of Alan Vernon. All rights reserved.
These images may not be used for Commercial purposes without written permission.

Road Trip to Alaska 2007 - Portage to Skagway

Skagway and Hyder, Alaska : These images were taken in and around Skagway Alaska, or in Hyder Alaska, at the end of our road trip. Images of scenery observed from the Lynn Canal were taken during a boat ride from Skagway to Juneau Alaska.
All Photos in this Gallery are the copyright of Alan Vernon. All rights reserved.
These images may not be used for Commercial purposes without written permission.

Skagway and Hyder, Alaska

Alaska Trip 2007 - Bears : The highlights of our Alaska trip were the times when we were in close proximity to these magnificent animals. The many long hours of waiting around for a glimpse of the bears, were often rewarded by the occasions when we were able to observe these powerful predators undisturbed in their natural habitat.

Alaskan Coastal Brown bears and grizzly bears are classified as the same species, Ursus arctos.
The term “Alaskan Coastal brown bear” is the common terminology for those "grizzly" bears found in coastal areas where salmon is the primary food source. and the term "grizzly" bear is reserved for inland brown bears of North America. Inland Brown bears are usually smaller than coastal bears, probably because they do not have a readily available supply of protein-rich food, such as salmon, in their diet. Very large Alaskan Coastal Brown bears can reach 1400 pounds in weight by denning time. Both Black bears and Brown bears can be found in many color phases, and so color is a very unreliable way to distinguish between the two species.
All Photos in this Gallery are the copyright of Alan Vernon. All rights reserved.
These images may not be used for Commercial purposes without written permission.

Alaska Trip 2007 - Bears

Alaska Trip 2007 - Bald Eagles : The Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus Leucocephalus) is found only on the North American continent. Immature eagles are mottled brown and white, and the distinct white head and tail of the mature bird is only fully developed at about 5 years of age. Although eagles feed mainly on fish, they do eat small mammals and they are very often found eating carrion. It is reported that eagles can fly up to 30 m.p.h; dive at speeds up to 100 m.p.h.; and their eyesight allows them to spot fish at distances up to 1 mile. Bald Eagles swoop down to seize a fish in their talons and carry it off, but can only lift about five pounds. It is reported that Bald Eagles have been known to swim to shore with a heavy fish using their strong wings as paddles, but even more surprisingly that they have been known to drown trying to lift a fish that weighed too much.
All Photos in this Gallery are the copyright of Alan Vernon. All rights reserved.
These images may not be used for Commercial purposes without written permission.

Alaska Trip 2007 - Bald Eagles

Alaska Trip 2007 - Humpback Whales : Humpback Whales are normally solitary feeders but on rare occasions they do take part in one of the most spectacular acts of collaboration among marine mammals - Bubble net fishing. Normally groups are small, but on this occasion there were estimated to be 18 to 20 whales in this bubble net feeding event - a very rare event. Bubble net fishing is the technique whereby ocean mammals, after finding a shoal of fish blow bubbles while swimming in circles to create a ring of bubbles. The ring encircles the fish, which are confined in an ever-smaller volume of water as the whales swim in ever decreasing circles. The whales then, on signal from the leader, swim upwards, mouths open, through the bubble net, swallowing large numbers of fish, in this case herring. Some of the whales circle the fish blowing bubbles through their blowholes, some dive below the fish to drive them towards the surface, and others herd fish into the net by vocalizing. The sounds of these whales were mesmerising and erie in the otherwise silence of the Fjord. We could tell where the whales were bubble netting because the Glaucous winged gulls flocked around the bubble circle, and we could also tell when the whales were about to break surface because the sea began to "boil" as the herrings jumped from the surface to escape the whales open mouths. This was an emotional and breathtakingly beautiful event which we were fortunate to not only see but to capture in print.
All Photos in this Gallery are the copyright of Alan Vernon. All rights reserved.
These images may not be used for Commercial purposes without written permission.

Alaska Trip 2007 - Humpback Whales