Videos of a female surfer almost eaten by a whale, whales surfing, of humpback whales protecting a seal from orcas, of a whale breaching behind a monster wave being surfed, a GoPro encounter, National Geographic video of humpbacks and orca whales hunting together and more. Even the whales surfing Pipeline in Hawaii.
Santa Cruz, CA. Female Surfer Almost Swallowed by Whale. A woman floating on a surfboard near Santa Cruz, California almost ended up on the lunch menu for a humpback whale over the weekend. Barb Roettger had her camera rolling as two hefty whales popped out of the calm waters not far from the unsuspecting surfer and a pair of kayakers.
Mission Beach, CA. Two gray whales catch waves near Mission Beach – Photographer Paul Wilson watched as the whales swam unusually close to the beach. He started taking pictures. “Two gray whales taking a break from their migration and playing in the surf in front of our place in Mission Beach this morning,” Wilson said. Wilson has what he calls a “beach cam” on his Mission Beach property that captured one of the whales “spy hopping.”
Gray whales “surfing” off the coast of San Diego. (Paul Wilson, Oceanfront Photos)
Hawaii. Humpback whale breaches behind surfer on giant wave. The wave is an absolute beast. A humpback whale breaches a couple hundred yards behind the surfer as he makes a crazy hairball drop. Shot at legendary Sunset Beach, on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii. The video runs once at regular speed then twice in slow motion.
Coronado, CA. Surfer encounters gray whale. A Coronado surfer recorded the encounter of a lifetime Tuesday morning with a 20-foot long gray whale.
Laguna Beach, CA. Drone Video of Pacific Gray Whales Playing
Extraordinary footage of a killer whale attack on a Gray whale calf, when humpback whales arrive and try to intervene. Gray whales migrate north along the west coast of the USA in the spring and although it is known the vulnerable young are often targetted by killer whales, it is rarely captured on film.
In this clip the end of the killer whale attack can be seen, followed by the “agitated” humpback whales trumpeting.
San Diego’s coast. NOAA proposes removing humpback whales from endangered species list. Scientists have realized the populations are largely independent of each other and that protection and restoration efforts have led to an increase in humpbacks in many areas.
Puget Sound Area. Some whale watchers are still trying to make sense of an unusual encounter off the southern tip of Vancouver Island that might just rewrite our understanding of interspecies behaviour. “This was an example of humpback whales coming to the rescue of another marine mammal, in this case a Steller sea lion,” said Michael Harris, the head of the Washington-based Pacific Whale Watch Association. According to Harris, the incident began when a group of four Bigg’s Killer Whales started hunting a lone Steller sea lion in the waters off Sooke on Sept 11.
A killer whale and Steller sea lion engage in a life-and-death battle in the waters of Juan De Fuca Strait, just west of Victoria. (Russ Nicks/BC Whale Tours)
“As the hunt was going on, two humpbacks decided to intervene and actually get between the sea lion and the killer whales,” said Harris. “Then, two more humpbacks joined the fray, literally putting their huge bodies between the orcas and the sea lion, flipping their flukes on the water, trumpeting very, very loud at these transient orcas and ultimately saving this sea lion and escorting it in the other direction of these killer whales.”
Norway – National Geographic. Watch Killer Whales and Humpbacks Hunt Together Biologist and killer whale expert Tiu Similä explains the amazing “carousel feeding” method of Norwegian orcas, which stun and eat fish one by one and share the hunt with humpback whales.
JJ – The Orphan Gray Whale