BUBBLENETTING

June 29, 2013

One of the coolest things we’ve seen is a group of humpbacks feeding near Hilda Pt. in Saginaw Channel, south of Auke Bay. Their feeding style is called bubblenetting which is social foraging where a number of humpbacks (in this case 5 or 6) work together to gather fish to feed on as a team. One designated whale dives deep and makes a circle of bubbles as she expels air from her mouth. Fish are afraid of the bubbles so won’t go near them, thus being surrounded in this column of bubbles The remaining whales come up through the column with their mouths open and surface in a vertical lunge that can be mistaken for the beginning of a breach. The whales surface with their mouths wide open, thus getting lots of fish, and then they slowly retreat back into the water. You can see the open mouths of three whales in this photo. We suspected bubblenetting was going to start when we saw lots of seagulls all in one area, swooping down to the water. SO COOL!!

We are off to Hoonah this morning, about a 50 nm trip. It is the largest Tlingit village in S.E. Alaska with a population of approximately 800. We have been told it’s a very friendly town in a beautiful setting. After a 75 degree sunny day yesterday we awoke this morning to a light drizzle which we expect will clear later.