Diving
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This approaching diving sequence of Juneauite, whale 1447, from July 26, 2010 is typical of most dives in Juneau waters.
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This unidentified black tail dove away from us at a slight angle in Favorite Channel on May 19, 2012.
Diving is second only to cruising and spouting as the most common behavior I see in Juneau waters. Virtually every guest wants to see a dive since it means the flukes rise out of the water and they “get some tail” in Alaska as the joke goes. The near ubiquity of Pacific Life Insurance Company’s advertising using their iconic humpback whale has created an unrealistic expectation for humpback whale behavior. Diving is very close to an everyday observation and it is a rare day that I don’t see at least one whale dive. Some days they are a long way off, but most days we get multiple dives by multiple whales with lots of opportunity for fluke shots.
Humpback Whale Diving
While cruising with a blowhole-dorsal fin-blowhole-dorsal fin pattern, there is a slight hesitation slowing or even stopping of forward motion. This is what I tell my guests to watch for to prepare for a fluke shot photograph. The hesitation is followed by an aching of the back centered at the dorsal fin. Presumably the head has moved downward at a steep angle, but I’ve never been able to see this. While remaining essentially in the same place in the water, the back rolls forward like a slinky, from one step to another, until the flukes reach the surface. The flukes arise in the same arc as the back usually parallel to the surface of the water, but sideways or off-center dives are common. As the flukes sweep in this arc into the air, water streams off them in a shower back into the ocean. The body of the whale is now presumably in a near vertical position in the water and the tail is lifted straight out for the dive. At about the halfway point of fluke submersion, most dives include a little back flip of the tail to the dorsal (backbone) side before slipping under the water. The last photo in both sequences shows this little back flip.
Diving is second only to cruising and spouting as the most common behavior I see in Juneau waters. Virtually every guest wants to see a dive since it means the flukes rise out of the water and they “get some tail” in Alaska as the joke goes. The near ubiquity of Pacific Life Insurance Company’s advertising using their iconic humpback whale has created an unrealistic expectation for humpback whale behavior. Diving is very close to an everyday observation and it is a rare day that I don’t see at least one whale dive. Some days they are a long way off, but most days we get multiple dives by multiple whales with lots of opportunity for fluke shots.
Humpback Whale Diving
While cruising with a blowhole-dorsal fin-blowhole-dorsal fin pattern, there is a slight hesitation slowing or even stopping of forward motion. This is what I tell my guests to watch for to prepare for a fluke shot photograph. The hesitation is followed by an aching of the back centered at the dorsal fin. Presumably the head has moved downward at a steep angle, but I’ve never been able to see this. While remaining essentially in the same place in the water, the back rolls forward like a slinky, from one step to another, until the flukes reach the surface. The flukes arise in the same arc as the back usually parallel to the surface of the water, but sideways or off-center dives are common. As the flukes sweep in this arc into the air, water streams off them in a shower back into the ocean. The body of the whale is now presumably in a near vertical position in the water and the tail is lifted straight out for the dive. At about the halfway point of fluke submersion, most dives include a little back flip of the tail to the dorsal (backbone) side before slipping under the water. The last photo in both sequences shows this little back flip.
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Variations on this theme include “skim dives” (left photo) where the flukes just barely lift out of the water and skim the surface and “high tail dives” (right photo) where the peduncle and flukes are lifted high out of the water. Because the angle of descent is shallow, nowhere near the vertical of a high tail dive, I presume skim dives are shallow.
When treated to lots of diving whales, I enjoy making a game of “scoring” the dives on a scale of 1 to 10. Skim dives get a 1 and high tail dives get a 10 if the ventral (belly) side is facing me.
When treated to lots of diving whales, I enjoy making a game of “scoring” the dives on a scale of 1 to 10. Skim dives get a 1 and high tail dives get a 10 if the ventral (belly) side is facing me.