Humpback Whale Lunge-feeding Amid Hundreds of Shearwaters
Four species on Wednesday - a grand slam! Don't know why this always happens to me on Wednesdays, but I like it! And one of the best things was that the whales were pretty close to shore, so we got to spend lots of time with them.
Humpback with mouth open at the surface.
You can see the 250+ baleen plates hanging from the right side of its upper jaw.
There were so many whales around, I haven't identified all the ones I photographed, but have included a number of photos here, some of my favorites from the trip. One thing I didn't get very good pictures of was our very rare sighting of a fin whale and a humpback whale feeding together on the same school of fish! I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me - I'd see a fin whale go down, but then a humpback would lunge through the school of prey! The whales feeding amidst the hundreds of shearwaters was a remarkable sighting.
Fin whale, the second-largest species on Earth! (averaging 60-70 feet)
My other favorite part was seeing Filament, a 20-year old humpback who I think has become my favorite whale. I love the way she combines kick-feeding with bubble-feeding and does it in such a dynamic fashion!
Filament 's Tail. When she feeds, she lifts her enormous (about 14' wide) tail up high and then "kicks" it against the water as she dives, which helps concentrate her prey
Filament with a mouthful. See the sea water cascading out of her mouth?
Not to be outdone, Tigris, a male first spotted in 1984, was out there doing his own dramatic feeding, blowing bubble clouds and then quickly lunging through the fish, making a huge "bow wave" in front of him!
Tigris's Fluke
Tigris feeding - this is his snout, or rostrum, coming out of a wall of water!
Then, as if things weren't exciting enough, a pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins came into the area! I love the coloration of these dolphins, with their bright white stripe blending into the light gray, dark gray and tan coloration on their sides. The dolphins were active, with a few of them taking high leaps into the air.
Humpback fluke
Two humpbacks (Valley and Newton?) feeding with a third behind them
Passengers kept asking about the trip's totals, and I couldn't hardly believe it myself. Still need to properly write up our data, but our totals for the trip appear to be: 19 humpbacks, 10 fin whales, 2 minkes and about 200 Atlantic white-sided dolphins!
The trip passed really quickly - whales were so close I didn't get to spend as much time with passengers as I would have liked to. So if you have questions about the trip or any of our sightings, please post them here, or you can start a discussion on our Facebook group!
Special thanks to the North Hampton Brownies for coming out and also for adopting Owl this spring!
Keep in touch!
Join Our Facebook Group || Follow Us On Twitter
Humpback with mouth open at the surface. You can see the 250+ baleen plates hanging from the right side of its upper jaw.
There were so many whales around, I haven't identified all the ones I photographed, but have included a number of photos here, some of my favorites from the trip. One thing I didn't get very good pictures of was our very rare sighting of a fin whale and a humpback whale feeding together on the same school of fish! I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me - I'd see a fin whale go down, but then a humpback would lunge through the school of prey! The whales feeding amidst the hundreds of shearwaters was a remarkable sighting.
Fin whale, the second-largest species on Earth! (averaging 60-70 feet)My other favorite part was seeing Filament, a 20-year old humpback who I think has become my favorite whale. I love the way she combines kick-feeding with bubble-feeding and does it in such a dynamic fashion!
Filament 's Tail. When she feeds, she lifts her enormous (about 14' wide) tail up high and then "kicks" it against the water as she dives, which helps concentrate her prey
Filament with a mouthful. See the sea water cascading out of her mouth?Not to be outdone, Tigris, a male first spotted in 1984, was out there doing his own dramatic feeding, blowing bubble clouds and then quickly lunging through the fish, making a huge "bow wave" in front of him!
Tigris's Fluke
Tigris feeding - this is his snout, or rostrum, coming out of a wall of water!Then, as if things weren't exciting enough, a pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins came into the area! I love the coloration of these dolphins, with their bright white stripe blending into the light gray, dark gray and tan coloration on their sides. The dolphins were active, with a few of them taking high leaps into the air.
Humpback fluke
Two humpbacks (Valley and Newton?) feeding with a third behind themPassengers kept asking about the trip's totals, and I couldn't hardly believe it myself. Still need to properly write up our data, but our totals for the trip appear to be: 19 humpbacks, 10 fin whales, 2 minkes and about 200 Atlantic white-sided dolphins!
The trip passed really quickly - whales were so close I didn't get to spend as much time with passengers as I would have liked to. So if you have questions about the trip or any of our sightings, please post them here, or you can start a discussion on our Facebook group!
Special thanks to the North Hampton Brownies for coming out and also for adopting Owl this spring!
Keep in touch!
Join Our Facebook Group || Follow Us On Twitter
Were you on this trip? We'd love to hear what you thought! You can leave a comment below.
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2 comments:
This was an amazing day. I have never seen so many whales in one day! I am ready to go back next week. It is amazing to see how the planet's creatures can be so powerful and angelic all in one! I can t say enough..amazing!
-becky
Dover
Becky,
Thanks for coming. Glad you enjoyed the trip - it truly has been an amazing season! Hope to see you again soon!
Jen Kennedy
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