Unlike New York, the majority of Alaska’s land is unpopulated and undeveloped. For a state that is so big that if you dropped in the middle of the United States – it would touch both coasts – less than half of it is lived on by humans – but that does not mean that it is not lived on. Alaska is home to some of the most beautiful wildlife anywhere in the United States of America. From eagles to sea lions to harbor seals – to humpback whales – they all live here in Alaska – and yesterday – I saw them all with my own eyes.

Yesterday afternoon, Montel and I boarded the Sit ‘Ku and headed out towards Favorite Channel by Shelter Island in the hopes of encountering some of Alaska’s non-human residents.

The first thing we encountered was the nest of an eagle who was nursing her young. As the boat came to a stop and we turned our attention – and binoculars – to this nest that was sitting high in the spruce trees – I was marveled at the fact that a bird I have only seen on television – and on the quarter – was now right in front of me nursing it’s young. And just when I was admiring the eagles in the nest – I looked up and saw at least six more flying in circles overhead. After not seeing an eagle in person for twenty-nine years – I have seen at least a dozen since I have been here – so why are the Eagle’s in Philadelphia?

After we left the eagles, we headed further out to sea in the hopes of encountering more of Alaska’s wildlife – and it did not take too long before we encountered our next “residents” – a dozen harbor seals.

Floating in the sea like buoys – the seals looked at us with as much interest and curiosity as we showed them. One broke away from the group and came toward us, only to move back after moving forward a few feet. So we took some pictures, got a lesson on seals from the ship’s naturalist – and moved on to other waters and hopefully – other wildlife.

As we approached a buoy that was put up by the Coast Guard, we noticed that the buoy was being used as a park bench – by three stellar sea lions.

Weighing close to a ton each – these three giant seals used the buoy as a place to take an afternoon nap not caring that a boatload of humans stopped to watch them. One did jump off the buoy and back into the sea – but the other two didn’t move an inch from the moment we arrived to the moment we pulled away in search of any other non-human Alaskans.

As we moved forward, we came across two other boats that were from the same company as ours stopped almost next to each other a few hundred yards away from us. When we arrived, we found out that the reason they were there was because they found another local Alaskan native – a humpback whale.

I have always loved whales and have watched countless documentaries about them – but I have never seen one live – until now. As the calm ocean surface split to reveal a huge creature that arched it’s back as it exhaled a ten foot spray of water only to go back into the sea seconds later as if it was never there, was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. Here is a creature that is so big – it’s mouth fills with fifteen thousand gallons of water with every gulp. It can grow up to sixty feet long – and it can grow to weigh up to eighty thousand pounds – and now – it was yards away from the boat I was in. For a moment, I was concerned that there was something in the water very close to me that was big enough to swallow the boat I was in – but then as I saw it’s graceful dance through the water – I realized that this creature was the farthest thing from a threat – and the closest thing to beauty I ever saw.

After watching it surface and dive for an hour – we departed and left this creature to continue its dance without us. And as we made our way back towards the dock – we encountered another humpback whale as it blew its mist into the sky, alerting us of its location. Upon examination, we realized that it was much smaller then the one we saw earlier – because it was a calf just months old. As we continued to watch the baby whale – I noticed another spout of water shoot up about a hundred yards from the whale calf – it was the calf’s mother.

A whale of an obviously larger size then her young, this mother did not see our boat as a threat to her young – thank God. But instead – both mom and baby seemed to go about their business as if we were not even there. Again, we watched the graceful dance of these whales and then left them to return to the dock – better people then when we first boarded this boat.

I have seen some pretty amazing things in my life. But to see eagles, seals, sea lions – and whales living in their own habitats so undisturbed by man that man is not even noticed as he approaches them, was one of the most natural and serene things I have ever seen. It truly made me realize that we humans are not alone on this planet. There are thousands of other species that share this Earth with us, and as the most intelligent species on the planet – we continue to do things to the environment that destroy our neighbor’s habitats, constantly develop land and move these animals out of their homes – or hunt and slaughter them into extinction. Perhaps if everyone had the chance to come here and see what I saw yesterday – this planet might be in a lot better shape – and our fellow inhabitants might have a lot more places to live then Alaska.