#Whale watching

[hydrias]

splashdown — 6/22/2024

[whereifindsanity]

Eric J. Smith Photography

Watcha looking at?

[orofeaiel]

Boat View

[local-hellhound-steals-spaghetti]

And this is why I'm always wary of following "influencers" on social media that are getting very close up footage of whales.

Because you reinforce this sort of shitty and disrespectful behaviour by giving it likes and views. And it clearly is not for the benefit of the animals or "raising awareness" when it's hindering important research.

[redrcs]

Sequence of play.

Two Humpback whales playing, Platypus Bay, K'gari.

On my travels.

[rubybadgerr]

Breach. By me, Pen and Ink drawing of a humpback whale on smooth bristol.

[deep-sea-scholar]

Heya ya'll, here's maybe the best photo I am every going to take in my life.

I was out with the Monterey Bay Whale Watch when we got a chance to observe the CA-150 Bigg's Killer Whale pod after a successful sea lion hunt. The pod consists of one adult male named Jimmy, an enormous adult matriarch named Andi, three other female killer whales, and a total of four calves. The pod was totally showboating, celebrating a successful hunt and engaging in a lot of play behavior like spectacular breaching and spy-hopping . At one point a mother/calf pair engaged in some kind of roll/cuddle behavior where the young calf perched on top of his mom and rolled along while their mother pushed them along upside down directly towards the boat. I was in the perfect spot to photograph the sequence and got this once in a lifetime shot.

[zlukaszemprzezswiat]

Widzieliście już wieloryba a więc dzisiaj czas na resztę czyli macie w tle budynek, którym można kupić bilet na whale watching, Akureyri z którego odpływamy oraz część statku, którym płyniemy w rejs :) a na koniec JA

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[marinebioblr]

A mother humpback with her calf just off the coast of Socorro - these pairs are a common sight around here during the spring, as the islands provide protection for the calves when there are hundreds of miles of open ocean all around.

[orcinus-veterinarius]

do you have any tips for determining if a whale watching company/tour is ethical? i live in the puget sound area and i’ve always wanted to go, but i’m wary of picking a service that isn’t operating with best practices for the health of the wildlife in mind

That's amazing! It's been a dream of mine to see the wild orcas in the Pacific Northwest since I was a tiny kid obsessively rereading Killer Whales of the World. Unfortunately, I've never been to that region, nor have I ever lived near the coast for longer than 2 months, so I'm not really an expert on whale watching. But I did reach out to a few marine biologists and naturalists living in the area for their suggestions! Maya's Legacy and Outer Island Excursions were Puget Sound whale watching tours they recommended.

NOAA and Be Whale Wise are good resources for whale watching guidelines, and provide a hotline for reporting violations (don't feel like you're a snitch, it's necessary to protect the animals!). In general, whale watchers should stay 100 yards away from cetaceans (200 yards if they are killer whales), and responsible whale watching vessels will cut their engines to avoid disrupting the animals. Ships should never attempt to run down or cut off whales, bait them with food, and allow passengers to enter the water with them. Overall, I think Salish Sea tours are better about this than say, Florida or Baja California, but still worth keeping in mind.

I'm personally not a fan of whale watching tours that use drones, since I've seen a lot of footage on whale watchers' social media taken from drones that are flown way too close to the animals. I would prefer drones only be used by researchers or professional wildlife videographers with proper permitting.

There are a few certifications for whale watching companies, but I'm not really sure which, if any, hold merit. You could also check the company's website to see if any of their staff are credentialed in marine biology or conservation science.

I hope that was helpful! Happy whale watching!

[hydrias]

pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins! two rare visitors to the area at once; what are the odds??

[midwestaesthetics]

Mount Desert Island, Maine, USA...

[orofeaiel]

A humpback named Two Spot

[ilcimento]

Whale watching in Tromsø, Norway.

You wouldn't rely solely on a Leica camera from the 1950s with a 50mm lens, would you?

[redrcs]

How to identify your whale.

Whale tails, Platypus Bay, K'gari.

On my travels

[jemaystraveljournal]

lots of seals!!!

09.26.2024

whale watching tour out of Victoria

Victoria, BC, CAN