Thursday, August 20, 2009

North Pass Whale Watching:

Frolicking whales. This is what we came to see!

Shallow dive.

Well, all right then--leave if you must.


Can you find the three whales?

Not sure what's happening here but there's at least two whales involved--one diving, one chasing.

Possible Mom and calf pair.

Good-bye!

Perfect dive. The pattern on the fluke (tail) is what identifies the whale. This one, we were told, was known as "Spot" for the black spot on its tail.

We didn't get a name for this one!

This is called pec slapping. Pecs or pectoral fins on these guys are about fifteen feet tall.

Whale surfaces close to the boat.

Gull flies past whale after I asked them nicely to pose for me.

Bald eagle fishing.

Two blowing whales. Blows make them easy to spot.

Gulls follow a blowing whale. This is how they breathe. (The whales, not the gulls.)

Lone gull crosses our bow. If you look closely, you can see a whale behind it.

Roundout of a humpback whale. Very distinctive for this species.

Auke Harbor: Point of entry and departure for North Pass.

2 comments:

  1. More Brilliance mom, what kind of whales are these? Are they from Maui? Are they tracked with transponders or homing devices? Some are supposed to be able to recognize you or specific sounds...Love son...wish I was there...

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  2. great shots! i was imagining myself next to one of those 15 ft pectoral fins, and suddenly realized how small i was. yowza!

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