We’re very interested in humpback whales from watching them in Hawaii a while back. The article also mentions the Pacific Whale Foundation, the research organisation that we did most of our whalewatching with.
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Wow, I wonder if they were among the ones I saw in Australia in September 
Did you take their names? 
Seriously though, the PWF name the whales they identify, usually through the tail markings. I know they cooperate with the research people in Australia.
Amazing to think how far they go and fabulous to think of the vast interconnectedness of the oceans.
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What fascinates me as well is that a migrating whale might not find a food source until it reaches its winter feeding groung. They think that the Hawaii ones migrate from Alaska, spend the warm season in the tropical waters and then migrate back to Alaska before they eat again.
For a few months every year a large population of Southern Right whales gathers around Walker Bay at Hermanus on the Western Cape in order to calve before going down to the Antarctic for the summer. It’s often said to be the best shore-based whale watching in the world. Can’t find any photos that convey the immense numbers you can see in the Bay, but the one below shows how close to the shore they swim.
And if that isn’t enough, IMO SA’s best chardonnays - Bouchard Finlayson and Newton Johnson are made there. Always used to fill the car boot when coming back from Cape Town. Wish I could still afford great chardonnay!
Wow, that is close. Humpbacks are bigger, or maybe it’s the depth of the water so they have to stay further out, but I’ve watched humpbacks from beaches on Maui and watched small groups from the Hard Rock Cafe in Lahaina’s main street.
We do regular ‘flashtalk’ presentations to the R&D team as a way of giving the more junior scientists a chance to practice. A few months ago I presented this paper about feeding whales using bubble nets to concentrate prey.
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Unlike Americans who are just like little babies and need to eat, they think every 3 hours or they think they will die
So awful Right whales are so called because of being the right sort to massacre 
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