Grays Give Way to Humpbacks

Over the next several weeks we'll see more Humpback Whales than Gray Whales out near the Farallon Islands in the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. About now the Grays have mostly passed by on their way north to their summer feeding grounds in the Bering Sea. We often see them pass awfully close to the Farallones during their northern migration, providing us with a nice backdrop for photographing a "blow" (the visible plume of moist air expelled from the lungs).

It's harder to spot a whale's blow when there is no contrasting backdrop and when you're scanning a seemingly endless horizon. Somehow it seems downright neighborly of the Grays to be so obliging.

Gray Whales are "mysticetes", commonly referred to as "baleen" whales. Baleen is an amazing feeding system whereby these 40 plus foot-long marine mammals can feed on masses of tiny schooling fish and krill by filtering gulps of water and prey through the built-in strainers in their mouths. It is hard to imagine that early whalers thought of Grays as ferocious given the baleen feeding system and their well documented curious and gentle approach to boats.

On this recent SF Bay Whale Watching trip passengers saw both Gray Whales and Humpback Whales. It seems that once the Humpbacks come our way during their northbound migration, we see more of them than the Grays during their migration. Maybe the Grays travel solo more often or maybe they just have fewer numbers, but for one reason or another the Humpbacks seem more plentiful.

The 2 Humpbacks in the photo above were traveling together, unlike the Gray who traveled alone. Now that the Humpbacks are coming through our waters, we'll surely see solo travelers but we're also apt to see small groups as well as mother/calf pairs. There is something extra thrilling about seeing three or four 90,000 pound Humpbacks cruising through your neighborhood.

(Humpback Whale above; Gray Whale below.)

The fishermen tell us that there is plenty of whale food in the Gulf of the Farallones this summer so Grays or Humpbacks, whales should abound.

Photos by Ed Estes. Text by Kathleen Jacques.