Thar she blows!

In August eight humpbacks joined me as I fished for salmon over a massive bait ball south of Winchester Bay, Oregon. They tended to dive and breech as three separate groups. There was one calf that mimicked her mother's moves perfectly. The bait ball was huge, initially 40 feet thick and a good mile across, the whales eventually bunched it to 150 feet thick but still about a half a mile across. No other boats were in sight! I've never experienced a bait ball that size and these were the first humpbacks I have seen off the Oregon Coast.
 
We saw quite a few humpbacks this summer. The most prolific place was Blackfish Sound in the Broughtons. On the west coast of Vancouver Island we twice saw a cow and calf feeding in Tahsis Narrows near Nootka Sound. When departing from Nuchatlitz in Esperanza Inlet we had a humpback swim right under our boat and come up less than 50 feet to the side of us. Always a wonderful sight to see whales in the wild.
 
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I had this humpback go under my boat where/when anchored in about 25 feet of water and a small bay the size of to basketball courts side by side. I was amazed that it could go under me and turn around is such a small space. I did feel the "swish" from the tail when it went past.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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