Alan's Favorite Images

Humpback Whales are normally solitary feeders but on rare occasions they do take part in one of the most spectacular acts of collaboration among marine mammals - Bubble net fishing. Normally groups are small, but on this occasion there were estimated to be 18 to 20 whales in this bubble net feeding event - a very rare event. Bubble net fishing is the technique whereby ocean mammals, after finding a shoal of fish blow bubbles while swimming in circles to create a ring of bubbles. The ring encircles the fish, which are confined in an ever-smaller volume of water as the whales swim in ever decreasing circles. The whales then, on signal from the leader, swim upwards, mouths open, through the bubble net, swallowing large numbers of fish, in this case herring. Some of the whales circle the fish blowing bubbles through their blowholes, some dive below the fish to drive them towards the surface, and others herd fish into the net by vocalizing. The sounds of these whales were mesmerising and erie in the otherwise silence of the Fjord. We could tell where the whales were bubble netting because the Glaucous winged gulls flocked around the bubble circle, and we could also tell when the whales were about to break surface because the sea began to "boil" as the herrings jumped from the surface to escape the whales open mouths. This was an emotional and breathtakingly beautiful event which we were fortunate to not only see but to capture in print.
All Photos in this Gallery are the copyright of Alan Vernon. All rights reserved.
These images may not be used for Commercial purposes without written permission.