75pt">Nothing beats catching wildlife in action. I mean the thrill you get from getting those otherwise rare moments in nature on camera is nothing short of breathtaking.
Whale watching has over the years become an interesting recreational activity. It’s an activity that requires one to have an immense amount of patience. You can go at it for hours or days at a time, and still end up with nothing to write home about!
This particular film crew however got that once in a lifetime chance to view a rare spectacle while on a recent trip. They happened to catch the footage on camera and had the pleasure to share it with the world.
They saw a humpback whale swim near their boat and witnessed it do a full breach. In case you are not familiar with maritime lingo, breaching is when a whale or dolphin completely leaps out of the water.
The crew which is comprised of about four scuba divers, set sail off the shore of Mbotyi, in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.
That day,the heavens seemed to smiled upon them because the sea was relatively calmer than usual and lo and behold! They had the chance to get that million-dollar footage of the whale doing a full breach.
Initially, their objective was not to whale watch but to get a glimpse of the captivating marine wildlife in its rawest form during the famous South African Sardine Run.
To them, the whale breach was a major plus. The Sardine run is a natural phenomenon that occurs between the months of May and July when the South African pilchard flock in their masses as they migrate towards the east coast of Africa.
The South African Sardine run is usually open season for dolphins, sharks and birds as well. It creates such a wonderful experience to watch all these creatures engaging in the bounty that’s been brought unto them and those who’ve been there can attest.
The 40-ton humpback whale cow who by now the crew realized was with a calf, made her presence known. She slapped her fins in the water and without a moment’s notice leaped into the air completely.
She then splashed down and there was water spraying everywhere. AOL stated that the reason that these mammals do breaching is to get attention.
One marine biologist divulged that the greater the noise, the higher the likelihood of them was to be drown out. Apparently, the whales love hugging the spotlight.
He equated the leaping in the air and splashing back in the water to that razor-sharp child in a class jumping up and down while waving their arms to draw the teacher’s attention.
The loud sound they produce as their body slaps against the water, captures the attention of the other life forms in the water. This crew was treated to such a rare feat and I am guessing that the camera man who got the shot couldn’t be any prouder.
Just so you know, the humpback whales are weird and wonderful creatures and getting to see them live is another story altogether. These creatures have special anatomical structures starting with their strange looking teeth called baleen plates.
They are also highly vocal creatures especially the males who use them to make mating calls. Despite their enormous size, these whales are surprisingly acrobatic and they are fond of breaching.
The divers stated that capturing a whale in full breach is so rare it had never actually been captured on film.
Now that it happened, the whole world will now have the chance to share in the excitement.
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