Although Scott and I did not see any whales this week, we did receive two reports of humpback whales along our coast. The first came on Tuesday evening, July 14th from Michael Reinhart who noticed several blows from his home on the south end of the Sea Ranch. For over 30 minutes, Michael observed about ten humpback whales in two groups, one closer in and one farther out. The whales were flipper slapping, lunging at the surface, and lifting their flukes.
The next morning, Wednesday, July 15th, several very active humpback whales were seen near Cook’s Beach, also in two groups. At one point, four whales surfaced at the same time with open mouths to gulp in hundreds of gallons of ocean water containing anchovies or other small fish or possibly krill. This feeding strategy involves the throat pleats expanding greatly and as the whale gradually closes its mouth, the excess water is forced out, keeping the fish tucked behind its baleen plates. What a fascinating feeding strategy to observe.
Video footage of this spectacular sight was posted on the Redwood Coast Land Conservancy’s Facebook page by board member Jennifer Dumpert and was captured by a visiting friend.
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