brown kayak moment

[sasha]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45069305#45069305

[wiredantz]

Epic Shot

[ChefT]

WOW..........

[mtnbykr2]

Nice shot....a little suspect...but nice shot

[blitzburgh]

If that IS real, that is CRAZY.:eek:

[Fiskadoro]

Nice shot....a little suspect...but nice shot

It's actually an easier shot to get then some might think.

Those Humpback whales are not breaching, as the reporter wrongly states, but actively feeding.

What they do is they find schools of fin bait then circle them blowing bubbles to drive them into a tight ball, then they rise up open mouth in the center of the bubble circle and take the whole ball or as much of it as they can along with a huge amount of seawater into their mouths. They then settle back down and filter out the bait with their balleen.

When whales breach they leap up out of the water in a unpredictable even dangerous fashion, when they feed like that they come up right in the middle of a visible bubble circle they created, and though their noses come up out of the water they could never clear the water breach style due to the weight of the massive amounts of water they take into their mouths. In the pic you can tell those whales mouths are filled with water, and from the surrounding birds I bet the were on chovies or Sardines.

It's actually one of the few times Humpbacks are safe to approach due to the fact it's such a known predictable behavior.

To get a picture like that all you have to do is find feeding Humpbacks, paddle up to the edge of the bubble circle and wait for the whales to come up. I've done this myself in my skiff offshore in the northern section Catalina Channel up towards SBI. On a dead calm glassy overcast day I came up on three humpbacks feeding like this on a massive school of anchovies and I spent over and hour following them, positioning my skiff right outside the bubbles and watching them come up right next to me. The original baitball was massive but in a short while they had taken it down to nothing. It's probably one of the coolest things I have ever seen out there.

Jim

[wiredantz]

Now, we need some group photos.

[Fiskadoro]

Now, we need some group photos.

Hows this for a group:

http://www.wallpaperweb.org/wallpaper/animals/1600x1200/Humpback_Whale_Group_Bubble_Net_Feeding_Chatham_St rait_Alaska.jpg


Scientists refer to this behavior as Bubblenet feeding. I love that pic because you can actually see some Sardines and the bubbles the whales made still rising under the surface in the foreground.

It's a very different behavior then breaching where a Humpbacks jump up out of the water and land on their backs supposedly to knock off marine growth, crabs, and parasites.




http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2011/4/14/1302767231530/Breaching-Humpback-Whale-004.jpg



http://files6.fliiby.com/images/_original/xyv8v23vh5.jpg

Breaching is cool to see but you have to keep your distance as you never know when they will come up or where they will land. I know of some guys who were severely injured offshore fishing Albacore out of Morro Bay when a humpback breached and landed right on their boat.

Jim

[wiredantz]

show off...



But Epic none the less. :cheers1:

[Darkstar]

definitely not breaching, but feeding with the mouth closed? i think they might be spyhopping :D

:cheers1:

[sasha]

If i had a whale come up next to me like that unexpected i would shit my self pronto.. Those are great photos Jim...
There is something about being out there on your own and seeing mother nature in action.

[StinkyMatt]

Two words:




Rapala


Sleigh Ride



:D