This entry was posted on Friday, March 12th, 2010 at 12:52 am and is filed under Watching, Whales. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Photo Courtesy K. Velasquez
If you look really closely at the right side of this humpback tail you may notice evenly spaced scratches. The left tip is also missing. Both appear to be from an orca attack, but the scars seem to be old ones. This was a male escort traveling with a mother and her new calf.
Transient, or rogue, orca can be very dangerous to a young humpback whale, or any whale calf. Researchers tell us they are intelligent enough to know attacking a large whale would not be a winning situation, but hungry orca attacking a calf seems to happen very often. There are many adult and sub-adult humpbacks seen in Hawaiian waters with scars from a battle with orcas. Not all scars are on the flukes (tails). Some scars are seen on the pectoral fins and around the mouth. If a calf is attacked while still with its mother, mom will use her great tail or her entire body to protect and defend her young.
Whale watching is nearing its end in Hawaii. We have only a few weeks left, but there are still many animals out there. Tomorrow, all of us with cameras ready will be on the lookout for anything nature offers. To find fascinating scars on whales is always a real photographer’s treat! Won’t you join us?
