Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/Humpback Whale Feeding

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[edit] Humpback Whale Feeding

Original
Original
Reason
This is a relatively rarely seen behavior. It has only been documented in humpbacks off the coast of Alaska since the 1960s. The naturalist on our boat noted that in all of his years of tours, he had only seen the behavior five times. This is an image taken on film and developed and then scanned. I originally put it up for a picture peer review, and a couple editors thought I should give it a shot in FPC. I'm very new at this, so be gentle. Thanks a lot.--Eva bd 19:32, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
Proposed caption
Off the coast of Juneau, Alaska, a group of 15 humpback whales catches herring using the bubble net fishing technique. In this technique, which is unique to humpback whales, the animals exhale through their blowholes while swimming in a tightening spiral so as to create a cylindrical wall of bubbles under the water. The wall of bubbles acts as a net that fish are reluctant to swim through. The whales then suddenly swim upwards through the bubble net, mouths agape, swallowing thousands of fish in each gulp. This technique can involve a ring of bubbles up to 30 m (100 ft) in diameter and the cooperation of a dozen animals. Some whales take the task of blowing the bubbles, some dive deeper to drive fish towards the surface, and others herd fish into the net by vocalizing. The seagull in the frame is scavenging for leftover fish.
Articles this image appears in
Humpback whale
Creator
Eva bd, edited by jjron
  • Support as nominator Eva bd 19:32, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
  • Support. Some motion blur but SPECTACULAR subject & composition --frotht 22:26, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
  • support--Mbz1 22:46, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
  • Support Simply incredible. -- Mike (Kicking222) 05:29, 23 September 2007 (UTC)
  • Question: ...umm, what bubbles? Is it referring to the foam they're making? -- Altiris Helios Exeunt 06:46, 23 September 2007 (UTC)
    • No, the whales blow bubbles from their blowholes deep underwater, working together to create a circular 'bubblenet'. This herds the fish into a concentrated group in the centre of the net which some of the whales then swim up through from below openmouthed to consume the fish en masse. Obviously what you're seeing on the surface is the whales that have come up for their feed. I think the article describes it. --jjron 07:22, 23 September 2007 (UTC)
      • Ah-ha, I understand the picture now. I'll support it moderately, though. I'm an alien to whale habitat and behaviour, and thus it took me a very long time to understand what was going on in the picture. Image-wise, however, it is a very good image and is to be a rare occurrance (as per jjron), so that's where merit should be given. -- Altiris Helios Exeunt 07:45, 23 September 2007 (UTC)
  • Support by the way. Not an easy thing to photograph well given that so much of it happens underwater, and this is pretty well done. I like the composition looking back towards shore with no distracting elements - I didn't actually realise they did this so near land. --jjron 07:32, 23 September 2007 (UTC)
  • It was rather difficult. The swarm of gulls flying over the surface made it easy to see the general area where the whales were netting the fish, but when they actually did surface, I was almost too late. I've put up several other pictures that weren't nearly as good from my digital camera. My partner had a much more enjoyable time simply watching the action rather than fretting over getting the pictures.--Eva bd 02:47, 24 September 2007 (UTC)
  • Well, here's a little comment: You did your best. Keep it up, Eva. I think you took a good picture (even though I couldn't understand what was going on at first). -- Altiris Helios Exeunt 07:02, 24 September 2007 (UTC)
  • Support. Although I have trouble figuring out how many are in the pic. - Mgm|(talk) 15:52, 23 September 2007 (UTC)
  • Support The modifications (crop, lightened, and a downsample to get rid of the film grain and scanner dust) suggested on picture peer review have greatly improved this image. I didn't notice before that there was green fringing on the gull, but it's not the subject, and that's not a lot of fringing. Enuja (talk) 00:43, 25 September 2007 (UTC)
  • Support --LucaG 22:43, 25 September 2007 (UTC)
  • Support Per nom. Picture is not only high quality but also very encyclopedic. --Sharkface217 01:23, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

Promoted Image:Whales Bubble Net Feeding-edit1.jpg MER-C 03:34, 30 September 2007 (UTC)