Photographs similar to this are the goal of many whale photographers. The whale tail only pops out of the water when the whale is on its way down, diving deep into the ocean to feed on plankton.
The whale tail coming up and out of the water happens much less often than the more common breaking the surface for air and feeding near the surface. Seeing the tail out of the water like this indicates the whale is diving down deep to feed. All the photographers set their camera to motor drive and press the shutter down time after time and get no sign of a tail. One in 20 sightings, or so it seems, result in the whale fluke rising out of the water.
Antarctic Scenery
We continue to glide along seeing many beautiful scenes along the way. The decks are lined with photographers early in the morning hoping for some striking sun rays. Judging from the photos I saw on the backs of other photographer’s cameras, the best morning was our first morning at sea…. when I slept in…
Beautiful turquoise colored ice in the submerged part of this iceberg. Our ship can be seen in the distance on the left side.
Cha-cha-cha
Penguins Feeding Time
Parents are coming and going constantly along a penguin highway which runs from the ocean to the hundreds of nests.
It appears penguin chick feeding time is all the time. The parents get no rest. It is a constant effort to fish for food, find your chick among the hundreds of other chicks and regurgitate until there is nothing left. After watching this feeding process for a couple hours, I consider myself an expert. It is probably obvious that all of this behavior is innate or instinctive, not learned. However, the instinctive nature appeared so strong the parents had to regurgitate food even when it was clear the parent did not want to do so. The parent would run away, not wishing to give up any food, yet when the chick caught up with the parent the chick would rapidly peck at the underside if the parent’s beak. It really seemed the parent had no choice. On occasion there was a seemingly caring parent wanting to feed, but that was not the norm.
So, what is the routine here?
The mom returns from the hunting trip to the sea and finds her chick among the several hundred at this site. Greetings all around.
The chick will peck endlessly at the underside of the beak. This seems to trigger an unavoidable regurgitation reflex action from the mom. At times, she seems to want nothing to do with the chick and runs away. But the chick’s insatiable hunger and persistence pays off in the end.
The chick’s big reward, fresh, warm regurgitated fish. Ummm, nothing like it…
Now hold on just a minute you say, I can’t see all those details you describe from your still photos….
OK, let’s go to the video tape!
I think the chick is in charge and the mom really did not want to give up her food. The mom repeatedly pecks at the chick to discourage the chick from pecking for more food. Yet the mom’s instinct seems to take over and the chick gets fed and they both live for another day in the Antarctic.
While the mom below seems a bit more caring, she too pecks at the chick and pushes the baby away. Yet persistence of the chick yields another dollop of fresh regurgitated seafood when the mom seemed to not want to feed the baby.
I felt like Sir David Frederick Attenborough capturing these scenes, which were fun to watch. Initially this place looked like chaos. But after a while, the process became clear. BTW, I am hand holding a large camera lens for over an hour so I get a bit shaky at times.
A Whale of a Tail
The underside of whale flukes are so very different from one another they are like a giant fingerprint. There are whale guide books divided into visual sections so you can identify the whale you just spotted, learn the whale’s assigned name and when it was first spotted and recorded.
You can see how very different these two whale flukes are in shape and color. This one appears yellow.
Having the good fortune to have our Zodiacs positioned in the midst of whales surfacing was likely the highlight of the trip for me. The whales seemed to be equally curious about us. It appeared they were sticking their head above the water to take a better look at us. However, I never saw their head get so far above the surface to see their eyeballs. But it all happened so fast, it was hard to tell.
There is not a lot of warning when the whale appears, so capturing them is a bit of luck.
Taking pictures of you taking pictures of me taking pictures of you and the whales. Many times photographers do not want people in their photos. Yet in situations like this, the people can help add some scale.
Too Curious Leopard Seal
We were trying to run from the aggressive leopard seal, but the ice kept us from zooming away. Of course the ice did not impede the seal.
The photographer in the back of the boat got a great photo of the leopard seal biting our Zodiac boat. We were constantly trying to get ahead of the seal, but we had to contend with the ice floes. Possibly the seal was just exploring the boat rather than really trying to kill it…
So off we go at warp speed to our next Antarctic destination.
Harold, my take away is always bring clean, dry clothes with you if you MIGHT encounter a boat eating seal. Speaking of which, I may need to change my clothes after viewing that seal biting the boat.
Great photography as expected.
Happy New Year.
I sincerely appreciate you following along as you do. After a couple more Antarctica will be blogs on Bolivia, Iceland, Badlands of New Mexico and several of Europe. Thank you.
Wow !!!!! What a fabulous adventure you had. Thank you for sharing this with us .
Thank you Marie. More blogs to follow in the coming weeks. I’ll release them for Sunday mornings.
We are enjoying your Antarctica series. My grandson especially! He had no idea how baby penguins feed and was shocked to learn that all seals are not friendly!
Thanks for sharing these incredible photos and videos!
Good to hear from you Greg. More to come. My favorite might be Iceland from the air….
Penguin Persistence Yields Sustenance. Then back to the whale tail. Cool that you got some ID flukes. Did they tell you the stats that matched the fluke photos?
No they did not. I tried looking them up on line, but did not find anything specific. I was successful while in Alaska. Thank you for looking Ken.
Ernest Shaklelton would be proud. Another fantastic adventure, thank you!
Heck with Earnie, I’m just happy that you continue to follow my posts. I have many more in the pipeline for your Sunday morning entertainment.