Dan has spent his adult life combining a love of the sea, wildlife, and adventure. His career began teaching sailing, navigation, mountaineering, and kayaking with Outward Bound and aboard tall ships before naturally transitioning to expedition ships. A licensed boat captain since 1993, Dan has led roughly 1,000 boat tours in Alaska, introducing travelers to whales, seals, puffins, seabird colonies, and calving glaciers. He has also guided expeditions throughout Antarctica, Greenland, Iceland, the Northwest Passage, Svalbard, Chile, Panama, Costa Rica, the South Pacific, Europe, and Hawaii.

Dan’s fascination with marine life led him to begin researching killer whales in Alaska in 2004. Over more than a decade, he recorded whale calls, identified distinct pod dialects, and studied their seasonal distribution and social behavior, ultimately earning a master’s degree in fisheries biology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. His research has been published and featured in the BBC production Alaska Wild Live. His ability to combine scientific knowledge with years of firsthand experience makes him an exceptional naturalist and educator.

When he’s not exploring the polar regions or studying killer whales, Dan enjoys backcountry skiing, kayaking, sailing, hiking, and even studying ancient star navigation. He lives near Kenai Fjords National Park in Seward, Alaska, where the wilderness is quite literally at his doorstep.