Whale Watch

Whale watching in Alaska was high on my to do list for my recent trip and the early afternoon trip did not fail to exceed my expectations.  I booked a tour with Allen Marine a family-owned business, and one of the oldest tour companies in Alaska.  They have been cruising the pristine waters of the Inside Passage for over 40 years.  I was on a Holland America cruise and due to weather we had an itinerary change that took us to a place I had never heard of, Icy Strait Point.  Little did I know this would include the whale watching adventuring that was to follow.  Humpback whales are found in all the world’s oceans, most populations of humpback whales follow a regular migration route, summering in temperate and polar waters for feeding, and wintering in tropical waters for mating and calving.  One can only image these guys must of been enjoying the last few days of summer in the temperate waters of Alaska prior to their journey to warmer waters.

The Allen Marine staff consisted of Captain Eric Morrow, Deck Hand Josh Miller, Naturalist Tally Teal, and Assistant Kayla Thomas.  We boarded the St. Nicholas with some very dark skies above us and choppy water below us.  The captain came over the intercom and welcomed us on-board and said some whales had been spotted earlier that day in an area about forty five minutes away, so we could sit back and enjoy the coastal scenery and hopefully we would find them.  Luck was with all of us that day and we didn’t have to travel very far at all.  About twenty minutes into our voyage the captain reported seeing some humpbacks and we would check them out before continuing on….let’s just say we never continued on and there was no need to.  The only thing we didn’t have was some sunlight to make these photographs really pop, but while the land-dwellers faced some very strong wind and a wild ride boat ride on the seas, these exceptional animals put on quite the performance that made it all worth it!

Humpback whales are active, acrobatic whales. They can throw themselves completely out of the water, this is commonly referred to as breaching.  They can also swim on their backs with both flippers in the air. During our trip we were lucky enough to witness both!

Below is a photo-series of a humpback whale breach and the splash it creates.  Amazing does not even describe it.

The head of a humpback whale is broad and rounded when viewed from above, but slim in profile. The body is not as streamlined as other rorquals, but is quite round, narrowing to a slender peduncle (tail stock). The top of the head and lower jaw have rounded, bump-like knobs, each containing at least one stiff hair. The purpose of these hairs is not known, though they may allow the whale to detect movement in nearby waters. There are between 20-50 ventral grooves which extend slightly beyond the navel.  This ‘pose’ is known as “spyhopping” which is an activity where the whale pokes its head out of the water and looks around for approximately thirty seconds!  These whales did a lot of spyhopping!

The body is black on the dorsal (upper) side, and mottled black and white on the ventral (under) side. This color pattern extends to the flukes. When the humpback whale “sounds” (goes into a long or deep dive) it usually throws its flukes upward, exposing the black and white patterned underside. This pattern is distinctive to each whale. The flippers range from all white to all black dorsally, but are usually white ventrally.  The tail flukes of a humpback whale, which are lifted high in the dive sequence, have wavy rear edges. The deeply-notched flukes (tail) can be up to 12 feet wide. They also engage in “tail lobbing” (raising their huge flukes out of the water and then slapping it on the surface) and “flipper slapping” (using their flippers to slap the water). It is possible that these behaviors are important in communication between humpbacks.

Adult males measure 40-48 feet, adult females measure 45-50 feet. They weigh 25 to 40 tons.  They reach this weight by feeding on krill, small shrimp-like crustaceans, and various kinds of small fish. Each whale eats up to 1 and 1/2 tons of food a day!  A humpback whale has a life expectancy of 45-50 years!  Because their feeding, mating, and calving grounds are close to shore and because they are slow swimmers, the humpback whales were an easy target for early whalers. The International Whaling Commission (IWC) gave them worldwide protection status in 1966, but there were large illegal kills until the 1970′s. It is believed they number about 30,000-40,000 at present, or about 30-35% of the original population.

Facts courtesy of the American Cetacean Society Fact Sheet.