2009 06-25 SB Channel

Mother Common Dolphin (Delphinus capensis) leaps out with her calf alongside.

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Tiny curved dorsal fin of a Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus).

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Deformation of the tail fluke tips on this Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) caused our friend Eric Zimmerman to nickname the whale "747," because it looks like a jet wing. My unfounded, wild guess is that this is a birth defect, any Blue Whale experts out there have a more peer-reviewed theory that is based on data?

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For comparison purposes, here's the tail fluke of a normal Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus).

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Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) "747" lifts its tail for a deep dive. This raises another question for the experts: why deep dive at all when the krill were on the surface?

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Low profile head and the beginnings of a spout - Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus).

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Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) lifts its tail for a deep dive.

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Abstract Common Dolphins (Delphinus sp)...one emits bubbles underwater.

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Common Dolphin (Delphinus sp) leaps into an open ocean wave to catch the underwater ride.

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Choppy water, add a bit of phytoplankton green, and this is the best I could do to capture a large Basking Shark (Cetorhinus maximus) lumbering along just under the ocean surface with only the very tip of its massive dorsal fin exposed to the air.

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Versitile, agile, and every sensual sinew in tune with the ocean environment - a Common Dolphin bends its body and leans into a small wave alongside the Condor Express to capture the energy.

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Compare and contrast these flukes of a Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaengliae) with those of the Blue Whale in this gallery. The underside of the flukes (shown here) are used to identify and keep track of individual Humpbacks.

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They don't call them "Humpbacks" for nothing. Megaptera novaengliae begins its deeper dive.

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An Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola) swims just beneath the surface.

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Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaengliae) with its tail flukes rising.

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The vessel "Solara" stands watch over two Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaengliae) in the Santa Barbara Channel.

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Captain Skee and his boat. The "Solara" in the Santa Barbara Channel. Did I spell Skee correctly?

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Twice as much hump - two Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaengliae) with dorsal fins showing.

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Here's an interesting scar pattern on the back of a Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaengliae)...probably the result of being cut by a boat propeller.

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Close up look at a Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaengliae) splashguard and blowholes...spray everywhere from its recent spout.

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Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaengliae) tail.

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Top side view of a Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaengliae) tail flukes.

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