Hooked tips

 

Descending Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) flukes, offshore of Bodega Head, 6 October 2019.

Views of Blues

Some of my favorite Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) shots from the pelagic trip on 6 October 2019.

I love their beautiful mottled patterning:

 

 

Two views of the tiny dorsal fin:

 

 

Two whales surfacing:

 

With Point Reyes (and the lighthouse) in the background:

 

 

Not too far

 

We were lucky to encounter several Blue Whales (Balaenoptera musculus) offshore near Bodega Canyon/Cordell Bank on 25 August 2019.  

You can tell individual Blue Whales apart by the details of the patterning on their skin and the shape of their dorsal fins.  Here's a different individual than the one shown above:

 

Below, this is the same individual as shown in the first photo, but the view is further forward and the "splashguards" surrounding the blowhole are visible (right side).

 

It's always nice to see Blue Whales and fun to think about them feeding offshore, not too far away.

 

Taking a breath

I haven't shared a sound file in a while...but I ended up with a few recordings of whale spouts when we were on the boat trip on 9 October 2016.  So here you go!  [You might need to turn up the volume of your speakers.]





Sadly, I didn't keep track of which species of whales these are, but they're either Blue Whales or Humpback Whales.

Humpbacks, too

Views of Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) while on the way back to Bodega Bay during an offshore boat trip on 9 October 2016:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just the blues

I'm going to show a few more pictures from the boat trip to Bodega Canyon and Cordell Bank on 9 October 2016.  We were treated to some amazing views of Blue Whales (Balaenoptera musculus) and Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) that day — some of the best I've had on the West Coast.  I'm excited to share these pictures with you.

Tonight's post features Blue Whales.  This is a great opportunity to compare individuals.  Look closely at the overall shade of gray, the details in the pattern of splotches along the sides, and the shapes of the dorsal fins.

[Remember that you can click on the images for larger versions.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interpreting that last picture can be a little tricky.  At first, it might look like a large shark fin slicing through the water.  It's one half of the whale's flukes turned sideways as it's swimming.

In a few images above, you can see the way the pale skin of the Blue Whales appears turquoise below the surface.

Uplifting

 

Today I was on a Redwood Region Ornithological Society boat trip to Bodega Canyon and Cordell Bank with Captain Rick Powers aboard the New Sea Angler.  There were some magical moments when we were surrounded by Blue Whales and Humpback Whales.  

Above, a Blue Whale lifts its flukes from the water before diving.  Look for the tiny dorsal fin at the left side.  [Click on the picture for a larger version.]

This is just a hint of photos to come!

 

Diving and surfacing

Nice views of Humpback Whales from the boat trip to Cordell Bank on 14 August 2016:

 

 

 

In the last picture, one whale has just surfaced (on the left, you can see the mound-like splashguard surrounding the blowhole and the spray from the exhalation), and a second whale is diving (on the right, with flukes raised).

Two more cetaceans

Okay, here are the two other species of whales we saw this weekend.  These first two pictures are of one individual — they show the dorsal fin and then the flukes:

 

 

Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are known for their "knobby" dorsal fins and their large flukes with a deep central notch and serrated trailing edge.  

We saw several Humpback Whales on Saturday.  The photos below are of a different individual.  They show the fin and back; the flukes from above; and a side shot showing the flukes from below, in case anyone wants to try to identify this individual whale by the color patterning:

 

 

 

And the fourth species of cetacean we saw on 30 July 2016?

 

I think this is a Common Minke Whale (Balaenoptera acutirostrata scammoni).  It surfaced while we were watching the Blue Whales in the morning, and we only had this one view.  The overall size (relatively small), the dark color, the shape of the dorsal fin, and the behavior made me think "minke."   

Minkes only get to about 6.5-8 meters (21-28 feet) long.  In comparison, humpbacks reach lengths of 11-17 meters (36-55 feet).

Even longer backs and smaller fins

We saw four species of whales on Saturday, so after the Fin Whale post last night, here's a second species:

There are a few important characters: an even longer back, a tiny dorsal fin set very far back, and mottled blue-gray color.

Here's another example from later in the day:

 

These Blue Whales (Balaenoptera musculus) were remarkably close to land.  Rick estimated we were about 1.5 miles off Bodega Head, but I wondered if the whales were even closer than that at times.  Amazing!  If they stay in this area, it's a great opportunity to see Blue Whales from shore (e.g., from the State Parks outer parking lot on the southern end of Bodega Head).

It was foggy in the morning, and very still (no wind), so we could hear the powerful blows of these whales when they surfaced:

 

The Blue Whales raised their flukes a couple of times.  I only managed a so-so picture of the flukes, but it's still helpful to see the distinctive shape (quite different than the rough-edged flukes of a humpback and the rounded flukes of a Gray Whale):

 

I posted about Blue Whales a few years ago on 31 August 2013 — for more pictures and some information about Blue Whales, click here. 

P.S.  It's hard to visualize the size of a Blue Whale (the largest animal that ever lived on Earth).  Perhaps you've heard about the size of a Blue Whale's heart?  Its dimensions are similar to a VW Bug, although the Blue Whale's heart is shorter in length:

 

Loooong back, curved fin

Okay, remember the picture from last night?  Did you have a guess about which species of whale it showed?

 

I took these pictures of a Fin Whale (Balaenoptera physalus) during a boat trip to Bodega Canyon and Cordell Bank on 30 July 2016.

Here's a close-up view of the head (below).  Note the raised blowhole area (on the left side).

 

This whale surfaced remarkably close to the boat, which allowed a few nice views of the back and the dorsal fin.

Although I've been on a few trips to Cordell Bank now, this is the first time I've seen Fin Whales there.  I don't know a lot about their status in the Pacific Ocean, but it sounds like they're more common in southern California.  (Seawater temperatures are much cooler this summer compared to the summers of 2014 and 2015 and apparently there's a lot of krill around right now.  Perhaps the Fin Whales have been attracted by an abundance of food?)

Note the very dark coloration.  The dorsal fin rises off the back at a relatively shallow angle and is quite broad at the base.  The fin is falcate (crescent-shaped) and larger than the fin of a Blue Whale.

 

Apparently, Fin Whales often have small circular markings in the area near the dorsal fin, perhaps from lampreys or cookie-cutter sharks.  If you look closely at the next picture (click on it for larger version), you can see some paler circular markings.

 

A few fun facts about Fin Whales:

• They're big — they're the second largest whale in the world, reaching lengths of about 24 meters (about 78 feet)

• They're fast — reaching swimming speeds up to ~37 km/h (~22 mph)
  

• They're loud — producing low frequency sounds (20-Hz) that can be heard hundreds of kilometers away  

P.S.  Some of the facts above are from Marine Mammals of the World (Second Edition) by Jefferson, Webber, and Pitman (2015).