Expedition Leader Dan Olsen

Dan has called Seward, Alaska, his home for nearly 20 years, working as a whale researcher, tour captain, mountain and kayak guide. Years ago, Dan became entranced with the variety of calls of killer whales and returned to graduate school where he dove deep into behavior, movement, diet, and family-specific call dialects. Dan’s obsession with the sea and wilderness began with teaching sailing, kayaking, and mountaineering for Outward Bound, and was also found climbing around the rigging of tall sailing ships, singing chanteys, hauling on lines, and steering by the stars.

Dan has been a licensed boat captain since 1993, and he figures he’s run about a thousand Alaska boat tours showcasing whales, seals, puffin and other seabird colonies, and calving glaciers. In recent years, Dan has driven boats and guided tours for curious travelers in Antarctica, Greenland, Iceland, Northwest Passage, Svalbard, Chile, Panama, Costa Rica, the South Pacific, Europe, and Hawaii.When not working, Dan can be found backcountry skiing, kayaking, juggling, or simply meandering for days in the high trail-less alpine.