Humpback whales are graceful giants, plying the waves for fish and fun on both sides of North America.
A spout or blow of a humpback whale is usually the first sign of a whale nearby. These mammals come to the surface to breath, and each exhaled breath sends 8 feet of vapour high in the air. If you are close enough, you can hear the whooshing sound as these creatures empty and fill their massive lungs, but the real show begins when a whale makes ready for a terminal dive, a deep dive that may take him 300 feet or more below the surface. On most terminal dives, a humpback whale will arch his back and show his tail above water before plunging to great depths. These fluke displays are a beautiful sight, and encourage great appreciation for the size of these animals since some tails can measure six meters in length!
While you can pretty much count on a whale's fluke display during any excursion, humpbacks are less demonstrative with their other playful behaviors. These whales sometimes toss their massive tail out of the water in a tail lob, and other times leap completely out of the water, all 35 tonnes at once!
The following pictures of humpback whales taken from Northern Vancouver Island, Newfoundland, and Cape Cod catch some of these spectacular shows in action.
 |
1
2
Last Page
|
 |
