Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Elephantidae is the only surviving family of the order Proboscidea; other, now extinct, members of the order include deinotheres, gomphotheres, mammoths, and mastodons.
This in part because Delta goes directly to Sitka, while the Alaska Airlines flight usually bobs, making a stop in Juneau or Ketchikan that eats up an extra hour.
By Sea Sitka is a year-round port of call for the Alaska Marine Highway System (1-800-642-0066, www.dot.state.ak.us/amhs/). These state-operated ferries provide an extraordinary opportunity to navigate the Inside Passage at a leisurely pace.