Mike and I we're so incredibly lucky to see Bubble Whale Feeding also known as Bubble-netting in Juneau. Typically bubble-netting only occurs for a few weeks during the summer. Also, not all humpback whales bubble-feed. Out of all the humpback whales found in Juneau waters, only a fraction of them have been spotted bubble-netting.
An estimated 10% of humpback whales come to southeast Alaska. Of this small group of humpback whales only a few of them actually bubble-net feed. Our tour captain was able to locate them so that we could witness this amazing phenomenon.
While doing some research i find that there are about 60 regular bubble-netting participants among the 4000 or so whales that frequent Southeast Alaska during the summer foraging season.
Ordinarily, humpbacks are solitary creatures that travel alone. The bubble-feeding or netting behavior sees a group of humpbacks come together and rapidly circle in an upwardly shrinking spiral.
The whales blow bubbles beneath a school of fish and the fish get corralled into this net that is produced by the whales’ precise, fine-scale movements and finely tuned teamwork. Then they efficiently take turns scooping up fish with their mammoth-sized mouths, gulping thousands of fish at once.
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