Whale Tales

Humpback whales are a baleen whale, can grow up to 18meters long & can weigh an impressive 50 tons.
They are known to display spectacular behaviour such as leaping out of the water, rolling in the air with their huge pectoral fins outstretched like wings, and crash noisily back into the water. This is called breaching and it is still unknown why humpbacks do this. Some of the theories are they may do it to clean pests from their skin, to scare pretators, or simply do it for fun.

Humpback whales have a small dorsal fin located nearly two-thirds of the way down their back, and their backs steeply arch as they dive – this is how the humpback got its name and it helps whale watchers distinguish them from other species.

Other distinguishing features include, large pectoral fins and unique markings on the underside of the tail flukes, which act as a fingerprint for identification purposes & to track migratory paths of this magnificent creature.

I am fortunate enough to work on a boat that does whale tours from September- November & also May-July each year when they migrate up & down the east coast of Australia. This footage although a lille bumpy at times was shot of the boat with a gopro on a home made pole.