Whales – Syndication Server

Whales steal spotlight (again) at legendary Hawaiian surf spot

Footage showing humpback whales breaching while a young surfer drops into a wave at Waimea Bay is reminiscent of an even more extraordinary scene in 2014.

The accompanying footage shows an 11-year-old surfing at Waimea Bay, but perhaps more impressive is the sight of humpback whales breaching in the background.

“Young Kalama Stratton is putting in his time at Waimea Bay with a few whales breaching out the back,” The Inertia described Tuesday on Instagram.

Two distant whales are shown leaping, one after the other, as Stratton drops in at the legendary big-wave destination on Oahu’s North Shore.

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The clip is somewhat reminiscent of an extraordinary scene memorialized 10 years ago up the coast at Pipeline.

The top image, captured in 2014 by J.T. Gray of North Shore Surf Photos, shows a humpback whale mother and calf riding a wave just beneath the surface.

“The whales were 75 to 100 yards east of Pipeline and playing for a while, then swam to about 10 yards outside of the lineup,” Gray explained at the time. “A set came in and the bodyboarder caught the first wave, and the humpbacks caught the second.”

Image captured in 2014 by ©J.T. Gray/North Shore Surf Photos

While humpback whale sightings are common at this time of year, the gregarious mammals are rarely spotted in the surf.

Said Gray:“Whales frequent Hawaii in the winter months, but never that close to shore.”

Orcas try to kill ‘massive’ gray whale off San Diego; video

The killer whales “assaulted” the adult gray whale for nearly an hour in rarely documented behavior.

Killer whales from Mexico continue to thrill Southern California boaters while preying on dolphins and milling near vessels.

But on Friday off San Diego, a pod of Eastern Tropical Pacific killer whales was documented attacking an adult gray whale in a rarely seen predation attempt that lasted nearly an hour.

The accompanying footage was captured by Capt. Ryan Lawler of Pacific Offshore Expeditions. While the footage is graphic, the gray whale proved too large for the orcas and ultimately continued its migration toward Baja California nursing and mating grounds.

Delaney Trowbridge, also a Pacific Offshore Expeditions captain, described the encounter via Instagram, beginning her post, “Bloodied and bruised, but not broken.”

Trowbridge’s report included an image of the gray whale’s fluke with fresh bite wounds.

She added: “Over the last few weeks we’ve watched the Eastern Tropical Pacific killer whales plow their way through pods of common and bottlenose dolphins, but today their eyes were set on a much larger prize: a massive, adult gray whale.

“Despite their best efforts, lasting nearly an hour in their assault, the orcas abandoned their hunt and moved on.”

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Eastern Tropical Pacific killer whales, fairly common in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez, are considered rare visitors to Southern California. But that designation might no longer apply.

Alisa Schulman-Janiger of the California Killer Whale Project told FTW Outdoors that the ETPs have been documented off Southern California 18 different days since last Dec. 11.

While their presence is exciting for marine mammal enthusiasts, not everybody is pleased to see them linger for so long.

Reads one comment beneath Trowbridge’s post: “God Bless this Whale and any others tortured by these Orcas. They seem to be on a serious killing spree off of California and they typically don’t stay this long. This leads to many other concerns.”

Transient killer whales, commonly encountered in Monterey Bay, also visit Southern California sporadically.

Transients also prey on other marine mammals, including gray whale calves that pass through Monterey Bay with their mothers during the northbound migration to Alaska.

Watch: Orcas hunt dolphins off San Diego and it’s no contest

The operator of a San Diego-based whale-watching company has captured rare footage showing orcas hunting and catching dolphins.

The owner of a San Diego-based whale-watching business on Friday shared a video clip showing an orca lunging after an elusive dolphin during an “amazing game of cat and mouse.”

But Domenic Biagini told ForTheWin Outdoors that this was just a tiny portion of an orca hunting spree that he captured with a drone three weeks ago in remote offshore waters.

Biagini operates Gone Whale Watching San Diego. His footage is posted below and contains a warning, “Viewer discretion is advised,” because it shows orcas chasing and catching dolphins, and swimming with dolphin flesh.

“During the hunt, the older whales try and teach the young whales how to participate, so while this may appear cruel, it is actually a vital teaching and bonding moment for the entire family!” Biagini wrote in his YouTube description.

Eastern Tropical Pacific orcas, or killer whales, are encountered mostly off Mexico but occasionally visit Southern California waters, where common dolphins are abundant.

Orcas are the largest members of the dolphin family and ETP orcas prey predominantly on smaller dolphins and other marine mammals.

The majesty of whales in images

Whales are one of the marvels of the world

Planet’s largest creatures begin to appear off Southern California

As blue whales begin to show off Southern California, a well-known photographer has shared a 2016 drone image that reveals the immense size of the planet’s largest creatures.

The accompanying image, captured by Mark Girardeau for Newport Whales, shows a blue whale dwarfing a large passenger vessel.

“The boat pictured is called Nautilus and is 72’ long,” Girardeau explained on Instagram. “That must mean the whale is like 140’ long right?

“Actually, the largest blue whale ever documented off California is around 90’ but due to the perspective of the photo, the whale just appears larger…. In this photo, there were about 85 [people] onboard and the whale is likely around 80’ long.”

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Endangered blue whales, which number between 10,000 and 25,000 globally, can weigh more than 200 tons. They’re larger than all known dinosaurs.

They migrate into California waters beginning in late spring or early summer and spend several months, venturing as far north as Alaska, gorging on shrimp-like krill. (A single whale can devour more than 4 tons of krill per day.)

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Girardeau’s image provides a unique perspective because people on boats typically see only small portions of blue whales as they surface to breathe.

This week, first-of-season blue whale sightings were logged by Legacy Whale Watch in San Diego, and San Diego Whale Watch.

“We started our adventure heading straight west from Mission Bay as we had heard whispers of something big waiting out there for us,” San Diego Whale Watch reported Friday via Facebook. “We were quickly rewarded by sighting not just one – but three blue whales!”

Also on Friday, a blue whale was spotted off Point Vicente in Los Angeles County, by volunteers with the Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project.

The blue whale season for whale-watching operations in Southern California coincides with the waning weeks of the northbound gray whale migration.

False killer whales devour huge marlin in rare event caught on video

A sportfishing guide in Fiji shared footage Monday showing false killer whales attacking a hooked 300-pound marlin, leaving only the head for the anglers.

**UPDATE: The mammals in the footage were initially identified by the fishing guide (and reported here) as pilot whales, but they are false killer whales

A sportfishing guide in Fiji shared footage Monday showing false killer whales attacking a hooked 300-pound marlin, leaving only the head for the anglers.

“Can hardly believe what we witnessed today!” Jaga Crossingham, guide at Kokomo Private Island Fiji, exclaimed via Instagram. “A fired up pack of [false killer whales] took down this 140kg+ Marlin, Swipe to see what happened!”

Viewers who swipe on the post will see a false killer whale releasing its grasp on the marlin’s head just off the stern. “Wow, they ate everything,” someone on the boat observes.

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The next clip shows the mammals swimming behind the boat as if hoping to continue the feast. The final clip is a still shot of a false killer whale near the marlin’s head.

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Crossingham told FTW Outdoors that the marlin was on the hook for about 15 minutes “when I realized the [false killer whales] were starting to behave more like a pack of sharks. The whole attack was only a couple of minutes.”

False killer whales are found around the world in tropical and temperate waters, usually far offshore.

They’re highly social animals that typically travel in small groups associated with a larger pod. They prey largely on squid and fish and often share prey with other pod members.

They are so sociable that they’ve even been known to share prey with boaters and divers.

Said Crossingham: “It definitely was a strange experience, they almost were offering it back to us. They kept nosing the head back to the surface after they devoured the whole body.”

Watch: Red-footed booby grabs spotlight on whale-watching trip

Whale watchers in California’s Monterey Bay on Tuesday happily made way for a red-footed booby as the seabird landed on the rail as if to become just another passenger.

**UPDATE: The red-footed booby was on the same vessel, High Spirits, again Wednesday. Click here to view some wonderful images and learn the booby’s nickname.

Whale watchers in California’s Monterey Bay on Tuesday happily made way for a red-footed booby as the rare seabird landed on the rail as if to become just another passenger.

“A juvenile red-footed booby landed on the boat today. So we took it whale watching,” Katlyn Taylor, a naturalist for Blue Ocean Whale Watch, wrote in her Facebook video description.

In Taylor’s video, posted below, and in Capt. Kate Cummings’ Instagram video, the seabird casually preens as if not bothered by the presence of people, as humpback whales lunge-feed beyond the bow.

The passengers, giving the booby space, are perhaps more in awe of the exotic visitor than they are of the whales, which are common in Monterey Bay.

ALSO: Rare whale shark spotted by pilot off Southern California; video

Red-footed boobies nest on tropical islands and atolls, so Monterey is far beyond their typical range.

Cummings told FTW Outdoors that she had encountered only one other red-footed booby in Monterey Bay, in 2018, before Tuesday’s encounter.

“It hitched a ride into Moss Landing Harbor on a fishing boat and died a few days later,” Cummings recalled. “But the booby we had [Tuesday] seemed healthy and active, as it was seen plunge-diving for anchovies, successfully, and was preening on our boat.”

Red-footed boobies, named because of the striking coloration of their feet, prey on fish and squid and hunt by flying slowly above the surface.

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the seabirds are known to rest on ships as they hunt in open water.

The Lab’s website states: “Individuals may ride on a ship, or fly alongside it, and when flying fish take to the air in front of the vessel, the booby flies swiftly toward it, catching it in the bill. Red-footed boobies also congregate around actively feeding fish such as tuna, which drive small fish toward the surface.”

On Tuesday, the booby appeared to have benefited from whales dispersing massive schools of anchovies.

Largest shark on planet wows boaters in rare California showing

A San Diego whale-watching company logged an extraordinary daily double Monday with sightings of a blue whale and a whale shark.

A San Diego whale-watching company logged an extraordinary daily double Monday with the sighting of a blue whale and a whale shark.

The blue whale is the planet’s largest creature, but the rarer sighting was that of the whale shark – the planet’s largest fish species – far north of its typical range.

“I always say ‘you never know what you’re going to see out there’ and today proved that!” San Diego Whale Watch boasted on Facebook. “Not only did we find hundreds of long-beaked common dolphins, but we found a blue whale, two Molas [sunfish] and a WHALE SHARK!”

Whale sharks, filter feeders that can measure 40-plus feet, are found in tropical waters around the world, including Mexico and Hawaii. Sightings off Southern California are exceedingly rare.

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But hot weather and light winds have allowed for unusually high sea surface temperatures, inviting exotic species such as dorado, or mahi-mahi, and at least the one whale shark.

(Blue whales, which can measure 100 feet and weigh more than 150 tons, feed off California every summer.)

The whale shark that greeted San Diego Whale Watch passengers and crew swam near the boat, allowing for lots of gawking and picture-taking.

The “gentle giants” are incredibly popular among scuba divers and snorkelers in areas they’re known to frequent.

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Beloved humpback whale killed by ship strike off California

An adult female humpback whale nicknamed Fran, described by a prominent researcher as “the most popular whale in California,” has been killed by an apparent ship strike.

**Author’s note: It’s hoped that this story, which contains graphic footage, will raise awareness to the danger posed to whales and other marine creatures by large ships.

An adult female humpback whale nicknamed Fran, described by a prominent researcher as “the most popular whale in California,” has been killed by an apparent ship strike.

The 49-foot whale, who leaves behind a female calf with an uncertain future, washed ashore Sunday in Half Moon Bay.

A necropsy performed by the Marine Mammal Center and the California Academy of Sciences confirmed that Fran’s injuries – including a dislocated scull and fractured vertebra – were consistent with a ship strike.

The Associated Press on Monday, before the cause of death was confirmed, reported that Fran would become the fifth whale killed by a ship strike off Bay Area waters this year.

According to Happywhale, a website that identifies and tracks whales based on photo identification and input from citizen scientists, Fran was born in early 2005.

She migrated between summer feeding grounds off Monterey and winter breeding grounds beyond the Mexican state of Guerrero. She had a previous calf that did not survive the migration from Mexico to California.

Fran was named by Ferd Bergholz, though the Oceanic Society, in honor of his late wife, who lost a battle with cancer.

Bergholz late Monday wrote on Facebook: “I am very sad to report that “Fran,” the Humpback Whale that I named after my late wife Fran, was the victim of a ship strike and washed up on a beach in Half Moon Bay.

“There is no word yet about the calf she had this year. They were together in Monterey Bay a couple of months ago. A Very Sad Day.”

Whales of Guerrero, run by researcher Katherina Audley, added that Fran breached in front of Fred’s whale-watching boat on his wife’s birthday a year after she died.

Audley wrote on Facebook: “When we get to know our whales as individuals like this, their deaths affect us so much more profoundly and the good part of this is that we care more about their health.”

Happywhale, run by researcher Ted Cheesman, recorded 277 sightings of Fran before announcing her passing Monday on its website: “She was the most popular whale in California, encountered by many in Monterey Bay until her death from a ship strike in August of 2022.”

If there’s a positive note to this story it’s that Fran’s calf was observed attempting to feed on her own during a Fran sighting off Monterey in June.

Don Baccus, who was present during the sighting, commented on Facebook: “We saw the calf surface lunging, scattering anchovies every which way, ventral pouch filled with water and possibly fish, not that much later. The calf seemed well on its way to being able to feed.”

“This, of course, doesn’t mean that she was weaned or can feed on her own yet, or survive without Fran, but I am more hopeful than I would be with any other calf I think I’ve ever had the opportunity to watch over time.”

Orcas line up perfectly for family portrait in ‘awesome moment’

A photographer has captured what might be considered the perfect orca family portrait in foggy weather in California’s Monterey Bay.

A photographer on Tuesday captured an extraordinary orca family portrait in foggy weather in California’s Monterey Bay.

“The awesome moment when all the orcas you encounter line up for a shot,” Eric Austin Yee wrote on Facebook.

The black-and-white image, captured during a Discovery Whale Watch expedition, shows the closely aligned dorsal fins of five transient orcas – a mom, her three kids, and another orca that travels with the family.

Yee, also a naturalist, said visibility was poor when he received a tip from colleagues about an orca sighting in the middle of the bay.

Yee told FTW Outdoors: “As we approached the area the pod of five orcas popped up near us. We were worried they would have been lost in the fog but they resurfaced near us multiple times and got active.”

Behaviors included breaching and spy-hopping, which is when a whale in a vertical position pokes its head out of the water for a look around.

“Even though visibility was poor, the water was glassy,” Yee continued. “I got a lucky moment when all five animals lined up and I snapped the shot.

Yee added: “I had a weird moment when going through my photos: ‘How would black-and-white animals look in black and white?’ Pretty good, I guess.”

Monterey Bay is a frequent hunting area for transient orcas, which prey on marine mammals. The family unit photographed by Yee is well known to scientists.

Alisa Schulman-Janiger, co-founder of the California Killer Whale Project, said the orcas, from nearest to farthest, are cataloged and nicknamed as follows: CA51A3 (Dipper), CA51A2 (Andi), CA51A4 (Eclipse), CA51A (the matriarch, Aurora), and CA50B (Jimmy).