Slow Surfacing

Viking and a friend swim side by side on a foggy day.

Split Fin

Filter Feeding

This humpback is surfacing for air with its mouth full of food (perhaps krill or herring). The expanded pleats on its throat and water pouring out of its mouth indicate that it is feeding.

Baleen

Humpback whales are filter feeders and use long plates of keratin in their mouth, known as baleen plates, to filter small organisms out of the water. In this case, the humpback was lunge feeding at the surface with its mouth open allowing us to see straight into its mouth.

Rainblow

Big Mama

Tiny Tail Slaps

A baby humpback whale playfully slaps the water with its tail in what seemed like an attempt to wake up its restful mother.

Jumping Juvenile

Titan

Diving Through Smoke and Fog

Split Fin (BCZ0298) takes a deep dive on a calm day. Split fin is named for a large split in its dorsal fin but has an equally recognizable tail. Sometimes when the smoke and fog are dense, and the water is calm enough, it seems like the whales are diving in and out of a blank piece of paper. To me, this serene background emphasizes the idea that the great whales are gentle giants.

Foggy Foraging

Where the Light Can't Follow

A large humpback takes a deep dive from the sunlit surface to blue-black depths of the Salish Sea.

Barnacles and Tubercles: Part 1