Active whales!

Today we saw a very active calf. It breached (jumped completely out of the water) in front of our boat repeatedly, pec slapped (slapped its long pectoral fins on the water) and tail slapped (slapped its tail on the water). Humpback whales are known for these behaviors, and it’s not unusual to see the small calves doing them over and over. They learn these behaviors from their mother, and they seem to be having fun while they are practicing!

You never know when a whale is going to breach, suddenly you see their massive bodies emerge from the water (even calves seem huge, they are born at around 12 feet in length!). It’s hard to be ready with the camera, and lots of times you end up with images like this.

But when a whale breaches over and over you have a better chance of getting a picture. Luckily this whale gave us lots of opportunities to get some good photos!

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Breaching calf

Calf tail

Calf flipper