Sitka WhaleFest Planning Team

Sandy Kincheloe

A former Californian who fell in love with the spectacular beauty of Sitka when passing through on the ferry, Sandy Kincheloe came here in 1992 to work as a medical technologist. She worked as a “roving tech”, in bush communities such as Barrow and Bethel and in both Sitka hospitals. Early on she volunteered as a bird handler and technician at the Alaska Raptor Center and was a coordinator for the Alaska Naturalist Program at UAS. She continues to share her enthusiasm for the Alaska experience by leading Road Scholar groups on cruises in Alaska waters, working as a Naturalist on whale watching boats, and by serving as the current President of the Whalefest Team.

Davey Lubin

Davey Lubin is owner and captain of Esther G Sea Taxi, a Sitka business that specializes in marine wildlife tours and coastal wilderness transportation. He is a USCG licensed 100 ton master with more than 25 years of experience on the waters of Southeast Alaska. He holds a BS in forest sciences and is a certified biology teacher. He fished commercially for ten years, worked as a fisheries biologist and a US Forest Service botanist. He has been a teacher of Alaska natural history since 1986. Before joining the Sitka WhaleFest Team, he served on both the Alaska State trails (TRAAK) board , and the Southeast Alaska Trail System (SEAtrails) board. Davey has SCUBA dived extensively in Southeast Alaska and kayaked thousands of miles along the North Pacific coast. Natural history and boating are not only his professions, they are his passions. Davey lives in Sitka with his wife, Lisa Busch, and their two young daughters.

Linda Waller

Linda Waller grew up in Vermont on Lake Champlain and has always loved being on or in the water. She loves to travel, SCUBA dive, snorkel, and kayak. Linda is currently employed at Sitka Sound Seafoods as the computer network manager. Linda has been volunteering for Sitka WhaleFest  for 12 years and was also a volunteer on a whale research trip to Seymour Canal in December 2006.  Linda joined the WhaleFest Team in 2011.

Flip Nicklin

Widely regarded as the premier whale photographer of the world, Flip Nicklin, a National Geographic photographer, has more than 5,500 dives under his belt. Flip was born with both diving and photography in his blood. His father, Chuck, is a diver and underwater cinematographer, who taught his sons to become scuba divers. At the age of fourteen, he was helping his father teach people to dive off of the coast of Southern California , in La Jolla .  His first contact with National Geographic Society came in 1976 when he was signed on as a deck hand and diving assistant for a three-month shoot with photographers Bates Littlehales and Jonathan Blair. With the help of his mentors, two of his images were published, along with theirs in the Geographic.  The publication of these two shots, began his career as an underwater photographer. Eight years after his first publication, he had become the marine mammal photographer for National Geographic.

Logan Wild

Born and raised in Sitka, Logan Wild has spent his life surrounded by family and friends with strong maritime connections. His own ties to the sea include a fondness for recreational and occupational boating. Logan has worked on trail and cabin maintenance crews on the Tongass and Galatin National Forests. He currently works for the Tongass NF engineering department. He holds a BA in music from Rice University and a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.