On January 1st I participated in a pelagic birding trip from San Diego Bay traveling about 15 miles offshore from La Jolla, and back.
We spotted a couple of whales--both Gray and Humpback. Here is a series of photos of one of the Humpback Whales.
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| Upon surfacing the whale blows immediately with not much body visible above the water. This is a moment later. Blowholes visible on the top of the head (right), and the upper back to the dorsal fin (hump). |
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| The rather sharp triangular peak of the dorsal fin on the back of Humpback Whale. Diagnostic. |
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| Strongly curved end of the flukes also identify Humpback Whales. It's not a tail... whales don't have tails. The underside of the flukes (not visible in this photo) are patterned white and dark, each individualized as a fingerprint. The flukes only rise above the water like this when the whale dives. It will remain down for 10 minutes or so after this view. |
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