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Just after noon Sunday, the waters eight miles off the coast of Newport Beach were treated to an unusual, if not spectacular, sight.
A multi-ton humpback whale burst through the water and took to the sky, kicking around neighboring seabirds and opening its giant mouth to prey on an anchovy near the surface, just like in the Pacific Life Insurance commercial.
Wildlife photographer Marc Girardeau captured the moment using a drone, which has become more common in recent weeks.
Over the past two months, Orange County waters have become Southern California’s unique hangout spot for humpback whales.
“I’ve been working in this area for 10 years and I’ve never seen humpbacks at such a bad level,” Girardeau said. “But they’re here, and it’s incredible.”
Girardeau also works as a deckhand for Newport Coastal Adventures, which offers marine and sightseeing tours.
In a normal year, Girardeau would have mentioned dolphins along with fin and minke whales to tourists looking for marine life.
Humpback whales have recently begun to appear, following large schools of anchovies, their typical food source.
Girardeau said humpback whales are commonly seen in Monterey Bay and Hawaii, but Southern California is a stopover for the whales on their way to Mexico and Costa Rica.
A humpback whale eats an anchovy off the Newport coast in late November.
(Mark Girardeau)
“You know how we travel to Cabo and Puerto Vallarta for vacation,” Girardeau said. “Well, they do the same thing, except for part of their breeding pattern.”
Newport Coastal has been recording sightings since September 25th to track the first appearance of humpback whales. Since then, humpback whales have been sighted en masse, including 18 on October 19, more than 16 on October 26, and more than 17 on November 26. . 1.
More than a dozen were seen between 10 a.m. and 1:45 p.m. Wednesday.
Girardeau said the hundreds or even thousands of dolphins that share space with the whales push the anchovies from shallow water to the surface, where they also prey on the creatures.
This created the iconic image of a humpback whale taking to the air to collect small fish.
Girardeau said it’s unclear what’s causing the increase in anchovies in the region, but global warming and changes in ocean currents may be contributing factors.
“For the past few weeks I’ve spent almost all day looking at these amazing creatures,” Girardeau said.
The normal whale-watching season is expected to resume with the return of gray whales, which migrate between Alaska and Mexico from January to May.
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