Friday on the Prince of Whales- Newburyport

I really can't believe how hot and humid New England can be! Today was a scorcher on land but fairly reasonable off shore! The breeze was picking up out by the Ledge but the whales didn't seem to mind. We found Valley with a new friend, Tripod. As of recently, Tripod was hanging with Chromosome, and Valley with Newton...so are the days of whales' lives!

Valley

Valley and Tripod

We then saw a pair of fin whales who were very cooperative- allowing us to motor along side of them to get fabulous looks at their entire bodies just below the surface!

A visitor asked me about the breathing of whales. We see that dramatic blow (or spout)- the exhalation, but when do they have time to inhale?? The whale inhales immediately after exhaling- it all happens in a second or so. On calm days we can hear the inhalation sound too! Very cool! Whales exhale at about 300 mph, and the volume of the lungs for a fin whale is about 525 gallons of air (as compared to 1.3 gallons for a human)! Also, whales exchange about 85-90% of their lung capacity with each breath, as compared to a human who only exchanges about 18%. Whales are certainly very well adapted to their oceanic habitat!

Fin whale exhaling

Fin whale blow holes- now inhaling

Thanks for visiting! And thanks for all the great questions today!

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