Bubble Net Feeding Humpbacks

[Rachel Hollander]

Another one from my 2006 trip to Alaska with my first DSLR. We had the privilege of spending an afternoon observing 2 pods of humpback whales bubble net feeding and criss-crossing in a cove. They were feeding on herring and you can see one to the left of the highest whale.


Canon Rebel XT
100-400 @ 400mm
1/500
f11
ISO 200
Handheld from a boat, cropped and levels adjustment in CS5. Unfortunately, taken before I began shooting in RAW.

C&C welcome and appreciated.

Thanks,
Rachel

[Harshad Barve]

Wow , this is one cool image Rachel , Loving blue band on top
TFS

[Ken Watkins]

Rachel,

Not really sure about this as it looks a little "muddled" but I am not sure how you could have avoided this.

BG colours are fabulously "dull"

[Hilary Hann]

Rachel, what a fantastic sighting … I am certainly envious. I agree that it is a bit of a muddle of whales, but that probably illustrates what they are doing quite well. So the image works in the context of what you are showing. I'm not sure whether there would have been any other way to capture and/or produce this scene to give more clarity. Handheld on the water, I'm always impressed when I see that!

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Rachel, what a spectacular sighting, must have been impressive to watch the corral the fish and go into their feeding frenzy. Would like if possible a bit more either side if you have it, as you say 'cropped' image. The BG is absolutely perfect with the almost 'strata' look to it, especially with the muted colours and then the band of blue at the top. As you say, it's a pity this hadn't been shot in RAW, but I feel you achieved a lot with what you have.

TFS
Steve

[Grant Atkinson]

Hi Rachel, thanks for posting this shot, I really like what you got here..the fact that you saw humpbacks feeding in this way is enough for me to overlook anything else. Like the BG, and the depth and feeling of great distance it creates..big animals and big space. Steves critique seems a good one.
TFS
Grant

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks all for the comments. It is a somewhat muddled jumble of open whale mouths but that's what the behavior is. I wonder what it would be like from above (as in a helicopter). The crew had never seen so many whales cooperatively bubble net feeding at one time. There were 2 separate pods at first and then they joined together. At some point it became the 8-12 whales you see here. You'd see the circle of bubbles a few seconds before the whales shot through mouths open, always with one or 2 whales in the center shooting themselves higher than the others. Timing of the shot was the hardest thing.

I'll take a look at the crop again.

Thanks,
Rachel

[Rachel Hollander]

Here's the full frame version prior to the crop.

Thanks,
Rachel

[Hilary Hann]

Rachel, a helicopter viewpoint would be awesome for a sight like this. It is hard to get a concept of what it would look like but I imagine that it was a pretty unique sighting.

[Marc Mol]

An experience just to witness let alone photograph, well done Rachel, prefer the repost for framing.
You're whetting my appetite for our Inside Passage cruise early May.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Hilary and Marc. When you realize that the pacific herring is probably 10-15 inches then you realize the massive size of the whales. This was such a special sighting that the entire crew joined us on the deck and even they were impressed. None had ever seen this number of whales bubble net feeding together. The boat I was on also had a hydrophone and dropped it from the zodiac so we could listen in, the sound just added to this incredible sighting. Almost 5 years ago and I can still vividly recall the sounds.

Rachel