Humpback Whales Startle Kayakers

I love video clips like this. Here we have a team of filmmakers from the Discovery Channel in Alaska getting up close and personal with a pod of humpback whales.

 

 

One of the ways humpbacks feed is by blowing air bubbles in a circle below a school of herring or other fish. The circles rise like a curtain, confusing the fish, causing them to cluster together inside the ring of bubbles. Then, the humpbacks come up from below, mouths agate, and swallow tons of water and fish at a time. The whales use their tongues to push the water out of their mouths, while retaining the fish.  It takes a lot of fish to slake the appetite of a 50 ton whale. This technique of feeding is very effective and remarkable to witness.

Here is a link to an amazing close up experience with humpbacks feeding in the Gulf of Alaska...  http://on.aol.com/video/north-america--humpback-whales-startle-kayakers-517860640