If you're heading up to Alaska this summer, whether it be via cruise ship or on your own, consider taking an adventure excursion with some pretty tough Alaskan crab fishermen. No, you will not have to do any hard labor (who would pay for that?!). All you have to do as a guest is sit in a heated (ahhh!) amphitheater, or on an upper panoramic deck, and witness up close the kind of fishing action you may have seen on the TV show Deadliest Catch.
The Bering Sea Crab Fishermen's Tour is three-and-a-half hours long and leaves from the Port of Ketchikan. As you depart you'll be acquainted with the boat and thenceforth you'll watch as all kinds of sea critters like king crab, rockfish and octopus are hauled aboard. Other Alaskan animals curious to see what's happening are likely to investigate--whales, dolphins and porpoises have been known to swim behind the boat so keep an eye out for them.
Tours are pretty pricey at $160 per person, but where else are you going to get a chance to see and touch live sea animals just as they're pulled from the water and put into a live tank (later to be released)? According to their website, "just about any creature that swims, crawls, or maneuvers its way through this underwater paradise could be our guest!" Avoid the wolf eel (known to inflict painful bites) and instead snap a photo with an octopus.
After returning to dry land you will be given a snack and sent on your way. Tours last until late September when the fishermen get back to doing their more dangerous fishing. After all, Alaskan crab fishing is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world--and you can see it firsthand.
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