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This male humpback put on quite a show, repeatedly diving and breaching, perhaps trying to see how much of his body he could get out of water. It was certainly something to see.
Kenai Fjords National Park
Alaska
(Alaska2009_4114_edited-3)
The setting sun reflects off this segment of the Philadelphia skyline with the tallest skyscraper, The Comcast Technology Center in the foreground. It is the tallest building in the city of Philadelphia and also the tallest building in Pennsylvania rising to 342 meters.
There only 13 building in the USA that are taller and they are either in Manhattan or Chicago.
Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) breaching in blue water offshore from the coast of Port Stephens, NSW, Australia.
The humpback is one of the larger rorqual species of baleen whale with adults rangeing in length from 12–16 metres (39–52 ft) and weighing approximately 36,000 kilograms (79,000 lb).
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Love Life, Love Photography
Here's another Humpback Whale breaching at Gorda Banks off the southern tip of the Baja peninsula. The purpose of this energetically expensive activity is to communicate with other whales. But imagine the calories it takes to get 40 tons of whale into the air. I'm not sure why but they seem to be much more energetic when the weather is windy. Humpback Whales have unusually long pectoral fins that seem to flop about awkwardly when they breach. The name of their genus is Megaptera which translates as "enormous wings".
Sorry for posting another breaching Humpback but photo-opportunities like this are few and far between. This was a particularly energetic female with a youngster in tow, that was also breaching. This was at Gorda Banks off the southern tip of the Baja peninsula in Mexico.
Reprocessed from RAW using DxO Photo Lab 4, LIghtroom Classic V10, and Topaz Sharpen AI V2.1.7
Old version: www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/4051863350/in/album-721576...
More info on the blog: edrosack.com/2020/10/24/old-photos-and-new-software/
The winter storms took it`s toll on the sea defences at Climping in Sussex, complete wreckage of the old wooden groynes all along this stretch of coast where the flat land meets the sea, a spot i`ll be back to in the winter I think.
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Whale biologist Hal Whitehead defines a breach as when more than 40% of the animal is above water, whereas a lunge is when less than 40% appears. I remember that this adult Humpback Whale dropped back into the water straight after this shot, and I'd guess about 40% is on show, so this is a borderline breach. You can see water pouring out of its mouth (especially on the far side) and cascading down its back. I think the top of its pectoral fin is just visible if you zoom in, though it looks oddly absent. That misty area just left of its mouth is actually its breath as it quickly dissipates in the next pictures in the sequence. This was taken at Gorda Banks off the southern tip of the Baja peninsula.
A few more from my Moss Landing whale watching trip where we witnessed hundreds of breaches by a young whale. This youngster is the calf of CRC-12529 and called Google by some for the white patches around the eye.
Drune had disappeared and Bast needed a new home, she didn't expect wandering into Hell would be the answer
Here's a slightly wider "in habitat" shot of a breaching Humpback Whale showing the mountains and desert of the Baja peninsula in the background. I have posted a number of frame-filling breach shots so I thought I would try something a little different. I loved the way you can see the bulk of the whale collapsing like a deflating Zeppelin without the support of the water.
I don't know. I've hesitated to post this because the light (backlight) is so bad, but then, it's just not every day you see a pair of breaching humpbacks. Actually, it's mother and calf. It was a rough afternoon last fall, and the boat was really rocking. I hope you can get a sense of the boat rocking into the swell - sometimes the whales and land would drop out of sight momentarily. But it was my first-ever whale-watching excursion and it had a grand climax as we headed back to the harbor.
Here's a web tidbit on breaching: Humpback whales are very acrobatic and known for their energetic breaching, as are gray whales and right whales. Humpbacks breach more frequently when the seas are rough (and their normal vocalizations are less likely to be heard over the roar of the seas). This suggests that the noise of breaching may be used as a signal. Or I would interject maybe they're just having fun.
A juvenile humpback whale entertains our small boatload of photographers as he breaches several times near us. What an amazing sight to see! He is probably 6 years old, and has been seen near Avila Beach since spring. He even has a name: "Barney".
The remnants of our industrial past on the beach at Hartlepool. Steetley's 2000 foot Pier was constructed to provide fresh seawater for the Magnesite Plant here in the 1960's. Now left to decay like many other structures pounded by the North Sea on this coastline. The Pier became very popular with fishermen but because it was incredibly unsafe as it decayed a section of the pier was removed to prevent people walking out to the end. Now it attracts photographers! The site of the plant is now the location of show homes and new housing overlooking the golden sands.
This was one of the last shots I took after enjoying a wonderful sunrise here. The light was fabulous for around 4 minutes highlighting the structures and bringing out the detail in the sand and rotting timbers, before the cloud rolled in.