The Land (Sea?) of Plenty

Last May (2012) we had nice period of strong northerly winds, triggering a strong episode of coastal upwelling.  The result was plentiful nutrients and a lot of food to be found throughout the bay.  Surface swarms of krill were plentiful, and the whales were happy.  Below are some photos of humpbacks enjoying the plentiful food, as they perform feeding lunges through surface swarms of krill.  Enjoy!

A pair of whales lunge feeding side by side

You can see all of the krill jumping in an effort to avoid being eaten

A good view of the baleen (the brown bristly material) on the upper jaw

A few photos from the field

Shining flukes on a flat day on Monterey Bay

A very nice fluke shot (note the distinctive damage to the right side of the trailing edge)

Getting playful: pectoral (pec) fin slapping take one

Pec slapping take two

A long hiatus

It's funny how something like graduate school can take time away from other activities, such as keeping a blog about graduate school. I am writing this quick update to let it be known that I am intending to revive this page in some shape or form in the near future. In the short term, I will likely be posting some photos from my fieldwork and maybe a few of the most memorable experiences. For the more extended outlook, I plan to expand the scope of this blog from just a side-along accompaniment to my MS thesis to a chronicle of my adventures, past, present, and future.

For all my waxing poetic, I don't have a very good track record. We'll see how I do.

Bear with me,

Casey