Brydes Whale feeding in the Firth of Thames - up close images

by Peter Idoine on 26 Aug 2014 On Monday, Peter Idoine and friends were out on the Hauraki Gulf about 5 Miles NE of Gannet Rock. Coromandel. Channel Island and Great Barrier Island were visible on a very clear day.

He describes what happened next:

When we saw the whale action I moved closer to where I last saw them and stopped. One breached about 250 mtrs away from the boat. We were in about 40mtrs of water, and the whale in the photo seemed to be diving down, and coming in a spiral - when it surfaced, the beak of the whale came up high as per the photos - and the whale continued to circle on the surface - prob 100m in diameter - and once the first breach by the whale it then seemed to roll over onto the side - you can see the tail fin vertical - and the whale continued to complete a circle.

It then dived again. Each time it surfaced it was closer to us. We never moved, and so the whales surfacing became more predictable to us, the last surfacing was about eight metres from the boat. The blowing and spray and water noise made for a great experience.

This is a typical sequence of foraging behaviour by Bryde’s whales using when they’re feeding on plankton. They typically move their head up and down a few times, then breath and rapidly flick onto their side (they are typically right sided at about the same proportion that humans are right and left handed) and take a gulp of water just below the surface. They then filter the water and swallow their prey.