Largest animals on earth shown ‘racing’ at high speed

Blue whales are the largest creatures on the planet and can weigh more than 150 tons, so only rarely are the great leviathans observed traveling at high speeds.

Blue whales are the largest creatures on the planet and can weigh more than 150 tons, so only rarely are the great leviathans observed traveling at high speeds.

But on Monday off Dana Point, Ca., boaters were in awe as at least three blue whales, perhaps feeling amorous, exhibited racing behavior in a spectacle described by one naturalist as “one for the record books.”

The accompanying video footage was captured by Capt. Dave’s Dana Point Dolphin & Whale Watching. The images were captured by Laura Lopez for Dana Wharf Whale Watch.

In the video, three blue whales are shown interacting in what might be courtship behavior: “Possibly two males competing for the attention of the female,” Capt. Dave’s wrote.

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There appears to have been physical contact and, at times, the whales were clocked at 15 knots, or just above 17 mph.

It’s remarkable, considering that blue whale sightings typically involve slow and predictable movements as the mammals, which can measure 100 feet, surface to breath and sometimes reveal tail flukes as they begin to dive.

Dana Wharf Whale Watch posted 21 images to Facebook late Monday, and early Tuesday posted video showing more action. Lopez described the behaviors:

“On our first 2 trips, we saw groups of 4 Blue Whales often swimming very close together ~ side by side, rolling [and] displaying ventral pleats, pectoral fins and tails, simultaneous high chin slaps while racing across the water at high speeds.

“Other times, they seemed to be following in a line up all bursting the water’s surface together. One or two whales would separate from the group and then rejoin. These behaviors indicate the whales could likely be engaged in courtship.”

Blue whales, an endangered species, are found globally and number about 15,000 animals.

A lot remains unknown regarding breeding areas and patterns, but blue whales typically give birth in tropical or subtropical waters. A newborn blue whale calf weighs approximately 4,000 pounds.

Giant white seabass is heaviest ever landed on kayak

A Southern California kayak fisherman caught his first-ever white seabass last Saturday and it turned out to be one of the largest ever landed.

A Southern California kayak fisherman caught his first-ever white seabass last Saturday and it turned out to be one of the largest ever landed.

Brian Beam, who was fishing with James Loud off Dana Point, tethered and boated the 80-pound seabass after a 45-minute fight off Dana Point.

Beam, 37, could not find a certified scale because of business closures related to the COVID-19 pandemic, so he took the fish home and weighed it twice on his bathroom scale: 81 and 79 pounds, so he split the difference.

Western Outdoor News describes Beam’s catch as a kayak-fishing world record, besting a 75-pound white seabass caught by kayak-fishing pioneer Dennis Spike in 2000.

Perhaps more noteworthy, it’s less than four pounds shy of the all-tackle world record (83 pounds, 12 ounces), which has stood since 1953. If Beam could have found a scale while the fish was still fresh, it could have been much closer to the overall world record.

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“I’d never even seen one over three pounds before,“ Beam told For The Win Outdoors. “You can only imagine how I felt once I realized what it was.”

Beam and Loud had paddled for 30 minutes to green water beyond a red tide, and Beam hooked the 5-foot-long seabass after his first cast of a live sardine. It towed him a half-mile south before he reeled it into view.

“My initial reaction was slight panic,” Beam said. “The fish was sideways, which made it appear twice as big in the water. It looked bigger than my kayak and I still had no idea what it was, which added to the excitement.”

Beam added that a rush of adrenaline helped with the task of hoisting such a heavy fish onto his kayak, after tethering it with rope.

The angler has reached out to the International Game Fish Assn. in an attempt to get the weight of the fish certified, but said the excitement generated by his catch is more rewarding than a potential record.

In a Facebook post Wednesday he wrote, “It’s been incredible hearing stories of how this accomplishment helped reunite family and friends and even created a little excitement in the mist of a global pandemic when finding things to get excited hasn’t been that easy.

“It’s truly a remarkable accomplishment and I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to achieve and share it.”

–Photos courtesy of James Loud

Angler finds that catching rare wolf eel is the easy part

Tanner Wright discovered Monday that reeling a wolf eel from the depths is a lot easier than holding onto one while posing for a video.

Tanner Wright discovered Monday that reeling a wolf eel from the Southern California depths is a lot easier than holding onto one while posing for a video.

The accompanying footage shows Wright, a deckhand on the Reel Fun out of Dana Wharf Sportfishing, trying to pose with the bizarre-looking creature while Capt. Chris Pica documented his rare catch.

“Come on Tanner, grab the thing. We’re trying to get a picture. Stop screwing around,” Pica jokingly instructs.

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Wright, struggling to grab the tail of the slithering wolf eel, responds: “He needs to calm down.”

Wolf eels, a species of wolffish, are found along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Baja California, but they’re rarely caught aboard sportfishing vessels.

While they possess dangerous canine teeth and molars, and jaws designed to crush the hard shells of prey, they’re rarely aggressive toward humans and are a prized sighting for scuba divers.

They reside mostly in rocky caves and crevices, where they prey on invertebrates such as crabs, clams, mussels and urchins. But wolf eels also will ambush small fish.

Donna Kalez, general manager of Dana Wharf Sportfishing, said Wright caught his wolf eel on a sardine at a depth of nearly 300 feet. It was kept alive in the bait tank overnight, and released Tuesday.

On Wednesday the landing announced that it would cease operations at least through March 31 in cooperation with coronavirus-related closures mandated by Orange County.

–Images of Tanner Wright with wolf eel are courtesy of Dana Wharf Sportfishing