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Cooperative feeding in Humpback whales
© Justin Hofman
This is a close view of 6-9 humpback whales cooperatively feeding on a school of herring. The whales dive together and corral the fish to the surface using a net of bubbles and loud singing. Found only in SE Alaska.
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Wesley Law 2 years ago
Wow. Some experience to be there when this was happening!
Justin Hofman  You betcha! For the last 3 summers I have had a chance to witness this happening but I haven't gotten a better, more unique angle than this 3 year-old image.
Shahaira de Cuba 3 years ago
A Beauty!
Piet Flour 3 years ago
amazing moment to cach for eternity
Justin Hofman  Thanks so much!
Rouge 3 years ago
Nice photo !

Rouge
WOW, gotta talk about the right timing here. I've seen these fellows my self, but nothing compared to this. Keep clicking ;o) Cheers, Sass
A. Dragon 4 years ago
What a wonderful scenery and what a perfect capture of this moment. Very well done.
Justin Hofman  Thank you so much A. We never got as close so it's a thrill to capture it.
Ivar Smith-Nilsen 4 years ago
Incredible! Excellent.
This must have been a breathtaking experience - Great job capturing it.
Justin Hofman  Breathtaking and very exciting. The first thing I saw was the ring of bubbles then the whales flashed their white pectoral fins' undersides. I am so lucky to have captured it for it was over in an instant.
Dare Turnsek 4 years ago
Wow, magnificent momment, congrats. !!
Justin Hofman  Thank you Dare
Daria Endresen 4 years ago
Truly amazing sight! thanks a lot for sharing :)
Justin Hofman  There's no point in seeing these amazing things and not sharing them, that's my philosophy.
Lars Grepstad 4 years ago
Right place, right time.. And a good capture!
Justin Hofman  Lars, you could say that. We do a lot of cruising specifically for this sort of thing, but with variable amounts of success. Very often we are 100 meters or more from a group. It's fantastic to see, but doesn't make for very good photos. This group followed a ball of herring right towards our ship. It was very memorable, even though I saw it through a viewfinder. Thanks a ton!
Jure Kravanja 4 years ago
very interesting
Justin Hofman  Jure, I hope that the "spur of the moment" comes across in this photo. There is very, very little warning when and where these whales will break the surface so I am very excited to have gotten it right at least once.
yuan 4 years ago
great moment.... regards -u1-
Justin Hofman  Yuan, thanks so much.
Mikael Jigmo 4 years ago
Justin

What a capture, absolutlly stunning photo.
All the best Mikael
Justin Hofman  I'm am SO glad that you saw this photo Mikael. There are not too many second chances when it comes to whales and I hoped that OE would appreciate that. By everyone's reaction they have.
Codrin Lupei 4 years ago
Really happy to see it published, it was a favorite in screening! A wonderful image, Justin, love it!
all the best
Codrin
Justin Hofman  I'm glad it made an impact on you Codrin. Everyone has been so fantastic about this photo I'm a little surprised.
Andrew Stewart 4 years ago
Fascinating
Justin Hofman  I appreciate that very much
Laurence Garçon 4 years ago
Fantastic moment ! Thanks for that photograph Justin !
Justin Hofman  Thank you very much Laurence. I was unsure if those out of the naturalist/biologist circle would find this so impressive.
Lars Klottrup 4 years ago
Great capture :-)
Justin Hofman  Thank you very much Lars!
Tracy Martin 4 years ago
Hey Justin, voted for it, just an amazing capture. I would hazard a guess though that it doesn't come close to the actual exhilaration of the live moment. :-)
Justin Hofman  Tracy, Thank you for your comment. Yes, the first time I saw this event I almost lost my mind. It is very hard to wrap your head around creatures this large all working together in a 3d environment.
Marcus Lim 4 years ago
Amazing sight Justin. Where were you when you took this? Looks like from some kind of height. Great capture. Marcus
Justin Hofman  I took this photo from the top deck of the ship I work on, National Geographic Sea Bird. We have seen bubblenetting about 5 times this season, but this is the closest lunge so far. Thank you very much as well!!!
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Equipment
Nikon d80 w/ 70-200 VR
Location
Alaska's Inside Passage
Unique views
18347
Comments
20
Category
Underwater
 
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