{"id":1079,"date":"2015-07-15T15:15:10","date_gmt":"2015-07-15T23:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/?p=1079"},"modified":"2015-08-27T19:20:52","modified_gmt":"2015-08-28T03:20:52","slug":"whalecious-wednesday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/alaska-news\/whalecious-wednesday\/","title":{"rendered":"“Whalicious” Wednesday – July"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DSC00271\"<\/a> Naturalist guides\u00a0are generally\u00a0not highly paid, therefore\u00a0I smirk when I hear\u00a0it said that naturalists are\u00a0“paid in moments.”\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There are\u00a0times, however, I have to agree. I\u00a0feel fortunate\u00a0when wildlife reveals itself to me, even when I don’t capture the moment with my camera.\u00a0\u00a0Every now and\u00a0then, however,\u00a0I capture the moment,\u00a0 lucky\u00a0to be\u00a0at the right place at the right time with camera\u00a0in hand.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

W<\/span>hale photography is particularly challenging for me.\u00a0I shoot hundreds of photos just to get a fair-to-middling photo of a humpback whale. After all, whales don’t pose, the boat is usually rocking, the weather\u00a0is generally gloomy in Southeast Alaska, and my photography skills mediocre.\u00a0 I often tell myself it is not the quality of the photo\u00a0that is\u00a0important, but the content captured.\u00a0\u00a0After all, look how many out-of-focus photos of Big Foot<\/a>, the Loch Ness Monster<\/a> and aliens<\/a> get published.\u00a0<\/span>Admittedly, many of my Gastineau Guiding colleagues are far superior photographers and happy to share their artwork on my blog.\u00a0 So thank you Colin Peacock and \u00a0Annette Smith. All of these photos were captured on a Gastineau Guiding excursion in the last couple weeks.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Breaching<\/a>
\nHumpback\u00a0whale calf\u00a0breeching, captured using a long lens<\/h4>\n

Not only do we see whales on our excursions, we sometimes hear their haunting vocalizations. Click the audio bar \u00a0below to listen to<\/span> humpback whales<\/a> singing.\u00a0\u00a0Audio\u00a0courtesy of the<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0Alaska Department of Fish and Game<\/a>. According to<\/span> juneauflukes .org,<\/span><\/a> “noises produced by whales include social and feeding related vocalizations. Sounds produced by humpback whales are low in frequency, generally lower than 1.5 kHz. Low frequency sounds, such as these, are conducive for traveling great distances through the water.”<\/span><\/p>\n\nhttp:\/\/www.adfg.alaska.gov\/static\/species\/speciesinfo\/humpbackwhale\/audio\/humpbacksong.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

I have spent\u00a0an incredible amount of money on cameras, yet I captured this incredible video\u00a0on July 4\u00a0using my cell phone. Again, right place, right time. Talk about fire works!<\/span><\/p>\n

We were watching whales breech more than a half mile away, keeping our distance as to not disturb the whales,\u00a0when this unexpectedly happened. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nhttp:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Whale-Breech-Trimmed-aleta-walther-copyright-2015.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

Video by Aleta Walther \u00a9 2015 —<\/span><\/p>\n

As Gastineau Guiding captains and guides, we stay 100 yards or more away\u00a0from marine mammals.<\/span> After all, we are guests in their home waters. We play by the\u00a0recommendations outlined by<\/span> Whale Sense<\/a> and committed to responsible whale watching practices. As this video proves, some whales don’t play by the rules, and in the case of this youngster, some just like to show off.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Ballenita<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0Humpback whale<\/a> cow and calf bathing in the soft light of an Alaska sunset.<\/span>
\n<\/strong>\u00a0Photo courtesy\u00a0\u00a0of Colin Peacock \u00a9 2015
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \"Humbacks<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0Humpback whales surfacing while bubble net feeding.
\n<\/strong>Photo by Aleta Walther \u00a9 2015
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Researchers believe bubble net feeding is a learned behavior and that only about 100 humpback whales worldwide have perfected this technique for corralling fish, much like cowboys corral cattle. This unique behavior is believed to take place only in Southeast Alaska. Check out this short video<\/a> <\/span>from National Geographic <\/a>to see bubble net feeders in action.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\"Whale<\/a><\/p>\n

Dive! Dive! Dive!<\/strong>
\nPhoto by Aleta Walther \u00a9 2015<\/p>\n

Learn more about how researchers around the world track whales by their tails, or flukes, in one of my previous posts:<\/span> Juneau: Humpback Whales Summer Vacation Destination<\/a> or at<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0http:\/\/www.juneauflukes.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2015-06-24<\/a><\/p>\n

I have an eye on you.
\nA young humpback raises its head to look around.
\n<\/strong>P<\/span>hoto by Annette\u00a0 Smith\u00a9 2015<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Gastineau<\/a><\/p>\n

Magnificent Whales,\u00a0 Spectacular Scenery, Sunny Day
\n<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0A perfect day for whale watching. Or in my case, just another day at the office.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

===================================<\/p>\n

All text, videos or photos copyright by Aleta Walther\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>
\nor respective copyright holders, 2015<\/strong><\/span>
\n<\/span>Naturalist, Outdoor Excursion Guide, CIG, CTA, ATG<\/b><\/span><\/b><\/strong>
\n<\/b><\/span><\/b>CONTACT: <\/span><\/strong>\u00a0aleta@prwriterpro.com<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/h4>\n

\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Naturalist guides\u00a0are generally\u00a0not highly paid, therefore\u00a0I smirk when I hear\u00a0it said that naturalists are\u00a0“paid in moments.”\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There are\u00a0times, however, I have to agree. I\u00a0feel fortunate\u00a0when wildlife reveals itself to me, even when I don’t capture the moment with my camera.\u00a0\u00a0Every now<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1129,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1079"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1079"}],"version-history":[{"count":46,"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1079\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1502,"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1079\/revisions\/1502"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}