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Tani Bell-Church talks to underwater photographer Art Sutch about the wonderful dive sites and photo opportunities in Alaska.

Tani: So Art tell me about diving in Alaskan waters, some of you favorite things you’ve encountered and what you think makes it so special?

Art: Well, I have lived up in Juneau Alaska going on 18 years; have dove the whole 18 years mainly in Southeast Alaska. I have also dove in tropical locations, Honduras, Costa Rica, but the majority of my website and work in focused on Underwater Southeast Alaska. One of the reasons I think Alaska is so unique is that it’s one of the last places on earth that you can probably dive every day of your life at a different and unique dive site that probably has not seen any other divers.

Tani: Do you often find new animals and creatures on different dives and locations?

Art: Not always but the sites my vary, some may be very vacant of any life, what we call underwater deserts only sand, a lot of clams, muscles, starfish, anemones then you can go a mile away and be on a vertical wall that’s just teaming with life, bigger species like the giant pacific octopus, sea lions, to macro species like nudibranches, little crabs, anemone shrimp and very colorful variety of anemones. It can vary greatly and that is what intrigues me because with all the different sites to dive. Sometimes we will come up and mark them off as that wasn’t too interesting but then again we will find some real gem’s as that are full of life, diversity, easy too get to and dive.

Tani: I’ve heard that you’ve dove quite a bit on the most famous ships wrecks in the area. Can you tell me a little about them and your experiences?

Art: We have two of the steamship era wrecks, the Princess Kathleen which is on Lena Point that ranges from 35 feet to 150 feet. The ship itself is more intact than our other wrecks. It’s an interesting ship to dive as you see a ship from a by gone era and from time to time it’s teaming with life. It fluctuates on as how much life you will see on it but there are usually many different creatures. For some people I dive with they are more interested in the history of it and exploring. It’s a very nice wreck, sometime there is a bit of current on it but it’s easily dive able for most experienced divers.

The second ship wreck, probably my more favorite ship wreck, the Princess Sophia is located right off Vanderbilt Reef out in Lynn Canal. It’s an oasis in the middle of a dessert because it right in the middle of Lynn Canal, the wreck itself is a little more broken up so it’s not as intact as the Kathleen but it definitely has more life on it so you can see from wolf eels to big ling cod, an occasional halibut and schools of black rock fish. It’s a very interesting dive. It’s a little deeper, the bow starts at 60-70 feet and you can dive down to recreational limits of 130 feet or deeper to 150 feet.

Tani: That’s right out in the channel isn’t it? The currents can be quite strong out there? Is that a problem?

Art: It’s has a lot to do with the weather as far as if you can get out there in a small boat and dive comfortably. It takes a little more planning than the Kathleen which is just around the corner from Auke Bay. Usually you can dive the Princess Kathleen in any weather, the current is a little fierce there but you just hang on to the anchor line and go down.

Tani: I’ve heard you’ve been working with Flip Nicklin, a National Geographic photographer who has been studying Humpback Whales both here in the summer and Maui in the winter. (Flip is the son of legend Pioneer Underwater Photographer Chuck Nicklin, who started his career with my Father, Ron Church.)

Art: I befriended Flip through my photography store about three years ago and we’ve become friends. I bring him out on the water to get identification shots of whales for research as much as I can between diving, photography, running my business and my two children.

Tani: How do they identify the different whales?

Art: They basically are looking for fluke shots of whales. The fluke patterns are all different, and that is how they can identify specific whales. The patterns, colors vary on the flukes of each whale.

For my working with him, he has invited me to Maui this winter to free dive with the whales. It’s going to be an educational experience for me but it gives me a chance to live my ultimate fantasy of actually being in and underwater with a humpback whale. I’ve tried it for about 15 years up here with no success besides maybe seeing a shadow.

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