2013 07-12 SB Channel
While most of the 10 or so humpback whales were traveling around at pretty high speeds, they did stop from time to time and enjoy a spectacular dining experience. Spectacular for us humans to watch that is...surface lunge feeding occurred on widely dispersed patches of northern anchovies that had been all schooled up for a easy meal. There was evidence of cooperative feeding amongst the beasts, as multiple whales broke the surface in unison as they filled their massive gular pouches and stomachs, often very close to the Condor Express.
The common dolphins were scattered in small feeding pods throughout the Channel today, at least as far as we could tell after the fog burned off. So the whales were left to feed on the oceanic bounty without those pesky little cetaceans all around. Even the seabird abundance was far less on the feeding grounds...in other words, no big hot spots with feeding frenzies...but who cares? the sightings were off the charts.
Click on the "Map This" button in the upper right corner to see where we went.
Eye of the whale. Like some kind of an abstract sculpture, this photograph captures a humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) during the later stages of a feeding using a vertical lunge. The eyeball and ventral grooves in the blubber can be seen. Image 11 below shows this same whale in wide angle format a few milliseconds later in the lunge.
EYEventralgroovesCLOSEMegapteranovaeangliaesurfacelungefeedingEngraulismordax2013Channel023
A humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) kicks up its tail flukes in front of everyone.
Image sequence 1 of 4: Two humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are photographed during a vertical lunge as they feed on thousands of northern anchovies (Engraulis mordax). Many anchovies can be seen escaping the mouths of these whales.
MegapteranovaeangliaesurfacelungefeedingEngraulismordax2013Channel001
Image sequence 2 of 4: Two humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are photographed during a vertical lunge as they feed on thousands of northern anchovies (Engraulis mordax). Many anchovies can be seen escaping the mouths of these whales.
MegapteranovaeangliaesurfacelungefeedingEngraulismordax2013Channel002
Image sequence 3 of 4: Two humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are photographed during a vertical lunge as they feed on thousands of northern anchovies (Engraulis mordax). Many anchovies can be seen escaping the mouths of these whales.
MegapteranovaeangliaelungefeedingEngraulismordax2013Channel139
Another image sequence, 1 of 3: Two humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are photographed during a vertical lunge as they feed on thousands of northern anchovies (Engraulis mordax). The baleen in the roof of the mouth can be seen.
MegapteranovaeangliaesurfacelungefeedingEngraulismordax2013Channel014
Another image sequence, 2 of 3: Two humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are photographed during a vertical lunge as they feed on thousands of northern anchovies (Engraulis mordax). The baleen in the roof of the mouth can be seen on the left whale, as well as anchovies escaping their fate. The expanded ventral groove blubber on the right whale is also shown.
MegapteranovaeangliaesurfacelungefeedingEngraulismordax2013Channel015
Another image sequence, 3 of 3: Two humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are photographed during a vertical lunge as they feed on thousands of northern anchovies (Engraulis mordax). Bothe whales are ejecting the water from their gular pouch.
MegapteranovaeangliaesurfacelungefeedingEngraulismordax2013Channel017
A low profile image showing the head and spout of a humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae).
The under side of the chin with its barnacles and ventral grooves can be seen in this image of a humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the late stages of a vertical lunge.
Two humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), one spouts while one flukes up.
A humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) straight up and down - vertical lunge feeding.
The dorsal fins of two humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) side by side.
The knobby top of the rostrum and closed blow holes can be seen in this image of a humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) that is falling forward with a mouth full of anchovies and sea water.
The mighty tail flukes of a humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae).
A humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) and a sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus).
![A humpback whale (<em>Megaptera novaeangliae</em>) is photographed during a vertical lunge. The eyeball is visible in this image and this an earlier photograph of this sequence [see image 1 on this page] shows a much closer look at the eye.](https://photos.smugmug.com/2013/2013-07-13-SB-Channel/i-SBM6Nqx/1/16d7ea35/XL/Megaptera%20novaeangliae%20surface%20lunge%20feeding%20eyeball%20visible%202013%2007-12%20SB%20Channel-d-024-XL.jpg)
