Howard and Michele Hall of Howard Hall Productions have released a stunning short film of their encounters with humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) during a trip to French Polynesia It was filmed in 8K resolution with a RED Helium camera.
WWF-Australia reports that Australian and US scientists working off the Antarctic Peninsula in the Gerlache Strait have managed to attach non-invasive camera tags with 3D motion sensors onto humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). The devices were stuck on their backs for 24 to 48 hours and recorded feeding behavior, including the animals lunge-feeding into tight swarms of krill.
A new study, published in the Royal Society Open Science journal has used satellite tracking tags to study the novel migratory patterns of endangered South Pacific humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). Among the unexpected findings is the fact that the whales spend time “hanging out” around seamounts during their migrations. (Image from Shutterstock)
Underwater photographer Karim Iliya describes his underwater up close encounter with two large humpback whales fighting one another for the mating rights of a female whale. Iliya shot the sequence while in Vava’u last August.
Darren Rice of Matafonua Lodge in Tonga has recently produced some impressive underwater and aerial footage of the Humpback Whales that visit the islands. The footage can only be described as spectacular and we caught up with him for an interview.
Underwater photographer and environmental researcher Tony Wu has been cataloguing the humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) that visit the waters around Kingdom of Tonga each year to breed. In the course of this he has found that the individual female featured in Darren Rice’s video has now had 7 separate calves over a 15 year period and he has dubbed her “super mommy”.
Unusually large numbers of anchovies in the late summer and fall of this year have brought increased numbers of humpback whales to Monterey Bay. A whale watching location that typically sees few humpback whales has counted nearly 200 this year. Image from Shutterstock.