“Once Upon Alaska” 7th Spread…Image 2866

These humpback whales are engaged in a spectacular feeding frenzy known as “bubble netting”. Working together, a group of whales uses exhaled bubbles to form a “net” to encircle schools of baitfish, like herring, to bring them toward the surface. The whales then lunge through the mass with mouths wide open.  Sea water is strained out through rows of baleen, leaving behind a huge mouthful of wriggling fish.  Rare in the rest of the world, bubble netting is fairly common in Southeast Alaska.  I photographed this image in North Pass off Shelter Island in the Juneau area.  This image is included as the seventh spread in my children’s book “Once Upon Alaska”.