Lizzie sent me these
great pictures from her whale watching experience in Coolangatta.
"They were not taken by me but by another person, Steve Triance.
My photos where not as spectacular as my digital has a short shutter delay and I sometimes missed the action. Steve had an SLR with tonnes of lenses.
It was a very exciting experience.Apparently the Humpbacks (these ones) are the only whales that leap (breach) from the surface like this.
We were about 4 KM off shore and watched them leaping every minute or so for over an hour while we were following a pod of juvenile males up the coast.They were real show offs.
They even swam under the boat and resurfaced in front of the bow and we could smell the air they expelled from the airhole on the top of their heads.The boat captain said they were unusually active on this occasion.
We were on a 3 hour round trip. The whales were still leaping around as we reluctantly headed back to port. That evening we could see some leaping from the shore at Coolangatta, but they were a lot farther away than we'd got in the morning.
I went whale watching off Alaska a couple of years ago and this was much more exciting.
Those Alaskan whales were smaller, and never breached, and only occasionally showed their tales before they dived down for several minutes."
I think the sight of a diving whale perfectly
illustrates just how awesome these creatures are!
This picture, and more information, with thanks to
Noosa
News via UQ Whale news, and
how interesting that their tales are as unique as our fingerprints!
More information cross-posted by Lizzie.
Click on the pictures to enlarge.
Related:
Why Do Whales Breach?
Andrew Jobling: Be Grateful - Be Free ... A Whale's Story
Blue Whales Numbers Recover To Pre-hunting Days Says Study
Humpback Whale Puts On A Spectacular Show As Tourists Look The Other Way
