The number of humpback whales in our viewing area has been increasing over the past ten years from one or two on a whale watching trip to more than a dozen each trip. It is still not easy to get an excellent sequence of photos showing a whale diving however Peder and Ann succeeded again. Even the ducks in the water seem to be enjoying the site. Additional photos tomorrow…
Tag Archives: Humpback Whales
Humpback Whale Identification
Not a good photo to be used for whale identification as IDs are based on the underside of the tail, which is called flukes with each side or lobe called a fluke. However this is a good photo if you are in the boat and a whale is coming toward you and dives close to the boat and you know that is is passing under your boat.
Non Lunge Feeding Humpback Whales
Humpback whales normally explode from beneath a herring ball with their mouth open to engulf as much herring as possible. These two whales rose slowly with mouths open and were almost treading water as they slowly twisted in circles. Humpbacks have throat groves that run from chin to belly. These grooves allow the throat to expand, which allows large volumes of water and food into the mouth. Closing its mouth the whale will press down with its tongue forcing out water through baleen plates and capturing the herring.
Enhanced Scenery
Believe it or not this little cove in often the object of photography and it is just made better when a humpback whales makes it’s presence known. Pictures from Grizzly Bear Lodge’s day trips are not all about wildlife some are just the beauty of the day.
“Desktop”
This has been my computer’s “Desktop” background for years. Its is complements of an English guest who was fortunate to be “ready” when we were in the right place at the right time. Humpback whales breaching are much more frequent than a picture of a humpback breach.
Interesting Photos 3 of 3
I have always thought that this photo from Gary Wilson from Australia is a bit of a classic. It shows the amount of activity we have in a days whale watching. In this case a humpback whale coming up for a breath in front of the Steller sea lion haul-out. Most whale watching trips include black bears, seals, sea lions, harbour porpoise, dall’s porpoise, pacific white-sided dolphins, killer whales, humpback whales, bald eagles and a variety of sea birds / ducks.
Interesting Photos 1 of 3
The interesting aspect of this photo is that it was caught in a photo. A breaching humpback whale is reasonably common but catching it on film is not. Humpback activities such as tail lobbing (slapping), pectoral fin slapping, and lunge feeding are easier to photograph as they are repeated and therefore predictable. A breach is without warning and seldom repeated.
Dall’s and Humpback Whales
We were off Cracroft Point this summer on a whale watching safari and spotted a humpback whale rolling on it’s back with pectoral fins in the air and as we moved closer saw a number of pacific white sided dolphins having some fun with the whale. Hard to move the boat closer with a camera in my hand so I put it down but missed a picture showing a few dall’s porpoise mixed in with the dolphins. This dall’s and dolphin mixture is even rarer than them playing with humpbacks which happens several times a summer.
Boat Approaching Whale Closer
In the distance one can see the bow wake of a boat coming our way. I mention this because it shows that on many whale watching days we are in a very large area with little competition. There are not many boats in your photos. Few boats but a variety of whales as tomorrows post will show…
Spraying herring?
This post ties in with the posts on June 21st and 22nd. Only in this case it is hard to determine that there is a humpback whale beneath the spray of herring.
