Pete Thomas Outdoors

Minke whale could be jumping for joy, and is that a smile?

Minke whale images are courtesy of ©Slater Moore

By Pete Thomas/GrindTv

A minke whale seen breaching multiple times on Sunday with its mouth open, revealing the baleen plates it uses to filter plankton, has been a widely-discussed topic on social media.

Mostly because this type of behavior is so rare, but also because it was captured in a photo sequence. Slater Moore was working on the Ocean Explorer out of Newport Beach in Southern California.

The captain was headed toward a blue whale in the distance, but as a photographer Moore knew to keep his camera ready.

Suddenly, off to the right, the minke whale launched almost completely out of the water.

Moore missed the initial breach, but the small whale then breached nine more times, each time a little farther from the boat.

There were nearly 100 passengers on board, and all seemed to be in awe.

“Everybody was freaking out; it was insane,” Moore recalled. “Nobody had ever seen anything like that.”

Minke whales, which average about 26 feet in length, occasionally breach but are not known for this type of behavior, as humpback whales are.

They've been seen lunge-feeding in a behavior sometimes referred to as “breach-feeding,” which involves thrust upward while intaking surface krill or schooling fish.

But this minke was not feeding—it’s throat pleats are not distended—and it was fully breaching, with mouth agape. It closed its mouth just before re-entry.

Someone on Facebook joked that it might have been feeding on low-flying pelicans.

Experts chimed in, too, but could not explain the behavior, except to guess it might have been purely for enjoyment.

“They breach because they can,” stated Jonathan Stern, a minke whale researcher.

Ursula Tscherter, a minke whale researcher with the Ocean Research and Education Society, commented that she finds the behavior “amazing and very peculiar.”

“I am intrigued by the final little splash of water coming out of the closing mouth … lovely … and she closed it before landing,” Tscherter continued. “I don’t think it’s related to feeding.”

The researcher said this could be a type of “display” or “play” behavior, but said that would have been more likely if there had been other minke whales in the area, and there were not.

“Finally, all I can come up with is that it is a specific behavior of this individual … for whatever reason … so it might give it extra fun to open the mouth.”

For Moore and the passengers aboard the Ocean Explorer, it doesn’t matter why the minke made like a missile over and over again, only that it happened—because it was a phenomenon they probably will never witness again.

–Follow Slater Moore on Facebook and Instagram

–Follow Pete Thomas on Facebook and Twitter

A young, disentangled gray whale's remarkable saga

Gray whale dragging kelp and perhaps a rope off Mission Beach; photo via Facebook

By Pete Thomas, GrindTv

For those who like to root for the underdog, a young gray whale off California is struggling mightily, yet against strong odds, to reach its Arctic home waters.

Last Thursday the 25-foot juvenile whale was spotted off Mission Beach and La Jolla in San Diego County. It was entangled with rope—possibly a commercial fishing line—and kelp, and was clearly encumbered (see top image).

Most gray whales have already reached their Arctic feeding grounds, after spending the winter and part of spring in Baja California nursing and mating grounds. This straggler was swimming at about the same pace a person walks.

Gray whale, no longer encumbered, is spotted Saturday off Huntington Beach; photo courtesy of John Minar

A disentanglement team did not reach the whale before nightfall Thursday, but a group of surfers experienced a close and unforgettable encounter with what was most likely the same whale, just before dusk.

Alex Rennie posted this recollection on Facebook: “Kid you not—today I got a foot massage … from a WHALE!! I surfed with Rick and Victor at Tourmaline’s today … and I noticed there was a whale circling around me. Its back was barnacled, so I first thought it was a rock until it started moving and breached—exhaling. I yelled to the guys and Victor paddled over. The whale proceeded to bump Victor from under his board lifting him about a foot upward.

“After it put him down it circled under me and rubbed it’s body underneath my feet as I sat on my board, (sort of cat-like) lifting me upward too. (So I kinda surfed the whale).

“He was about 20+ feet long—where the barnacles ended—his skin was smooth and dark grey (and felt nice on my feet!) I thought I saw seaweed or something dangling off his tail—so the only downer to it is that he may have been seeking our help.”

Gray whale investigates Cabrillo Marina; last three photos are courtesy of ©Diane Alps/Cabrillo Marine Aquarium

Was the whale seeking help? Only the whale knows.

But this whale looked thin and undernourished, and was covered with an inordinate amount of lice (whale lice is normal, but too much whale lice is a sign of poor health).

But the whale pushed on, and received significant help from somebody, or some group, on the weekend.

A whale of similar size and with similar markings—almost undoubtedly the same whale—was spotted Saturday off Orange County. And it was no longer entangled.

David Anderson of Capt. Dave’s Dolphin and Whale Safari posted on Facebook that he had located the whale, ready to help disentangle the mammal, but that job had already been accomplished by “a lifeguard.”

NOAA, which is supposed to be notified before any disentanglement effort is made, has not said who or what group freed the whale, or whether this was even the same whale. But unofficially, it’s the same whale.

On Saturday, the cetacean made an appearance near the lineup at the U.S. Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach. On Sunday it was seen inside Cabrillo Marina, within vast Los Angeles Harbor, swimming in and out of boat slips.

Diane Alps, programs coordinator at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, captured the last three images accompanying this story. On Monday she posted this update on Facebook:

“Yesterday we got a visit from a juvenile gray whale, approx 25ft long, in the Cabrillo Marina—not just in the LA Harbor, but way up in the Marina! Worried that it might have been the entangled whale that was reported off of La Jolla, I called John Calambokidis, (a trained and authorized disentangler) who was nearby, readying to depart for a research project.

“Once we found the whale, we were able to confirm that it was not entangled (yea!) There is still great concern though, as this whale is slow moving, and WAY behind its feeding schedule.”

There are about 22,000 Pacific gray whales, which spend the summer gorging on small crustaceans, such as amphipods, that are concentrated in Arctic waters.

The juvenile whale off Southern California is probably hungry, but there’s hope along those lines. Gray whales are highly opportunistic and feed on more items than any other species of whale, including krill, which is presently blooming off Southern and Central California.

Wrote Alisa Schulman-Janiger on Facebook: “Note the heavy infestation of orange whale lice and the large post-cranial dip (depression behind the blowholes), indicating that this whale is underweight and not in good health. It was moving up the coast at a very slow rate of just over about one mile an hour; gray whales typically swim at three to five miles per hour.

“Please watch for this ailing whale as it passes through the South Bay and up the coastline!”

So the watch continues, and the best news is that the whale is no longer encumbered, so maybe that will provide this underdog with the boost it needs to prevail.

50-pound opah yet another odd catch during El Niño summer

Add opah to the list of exotic catches made off Southern California during the El Niño-like summer of 2014.

Tosh Williams poses with 50-pound opah

A 50-pound opah was caught Sunday morning by Tosh Williams aboard the Fury, which runs from Dana Wharf Sportfishing.

The Fury was on an overnight excursion that departed for the fishing grounds Saturday night. The catch was made 50 miles south of Dana Point, about 22 miles east of San Clemente Island.

The crew stopped the vessel and turned on the bright lights at about 4 a.m. Sunday. After some chumming of anchovies, bluefin tuna arrived under the boat, and anglers began hooking bluefin.

The opah was caught at first light.

Capt. Curtis Dailey said another opah was probably hooked–opah fight differently than tuna–but was lost before it could be seen.

Opah are mostly solitary fish that live in tropical and temperate waters. They’re occasionally caught in years when El Niño conditions are not present, but catches are associated with warm-water events such as an El Niño.

It’s unclear how many other opah have been caught by Southern California anglers this summer. One was reportedly caught a couple of weeks ago off Marina del Rey.

The Fury’s count for Sunday was 21 bluefin, 11 yellowtail, one dorado and one opah.

Fishing remains hot and cold for these these exotics, which are not typically caught in these numbers, in U.S. waters, this early in the season.

–Pete Thomas

Florida angler reels in 20-foot thresher shark

By Pete Thomas, via GrindTv

There are fish tales, and there are fish tails.

This tale involves a common thresher shark, caught recently off Florida, which boasted a tail so long that it boosted the predator’s overall length to about 20 feet.

Common thresher sharks are also referred to as long-tailed thresher sharks, but even so, this shark's tail seemed to resemble the rib bone of a whale.

“Normally a thresher’s tail is about as long as its body, but you’re right, this one had an abnormally long tail,” said Mark “the Shark” Quartiano, a popular but controversial fishing guide based in Miami.

The guide estimated the tail fin to measure perhaps 13 feet. Overall, it's the largest thresher he has encountered, and he claims to have caught hundreds of them. 

The shark was reeled in by a female angler, after a two-hour battle, from a depth of 590 feet.

It was not weighed before the meat was processed, but Mark the Shark estimated the weight at between 700 and 750 pounds.

For the sake of comparison, the International Game Fish Association lists a 767-pound thresher, caught in 1983 off New Zealand, as the all-tackle world record.

Thresher sharks, which have small mouths, use their scythe-like tail fins to kill, stun or even shred schooling fish, such as mackerel, sardines and anchovies.

On Tuesday, Mark the Shark posted the accompanying image on Instagram, under the description: "Moose common thresher over 19' long ate a 15 lb bluefish on the bottom in 590' of water!"

The guide added multiple hashtags, including #veryrare, #monsterfish, #catchingmonsters, and #nothinggetsaway. (Mark the Shark is controversial mainly because he targets sharks, and doesn't release as many as some people would like.)

While this was the largest thresher he has caught, and could possibly have weighed as much or more than the IGFA record, it falls far shy of what might be the largest thresher ever landed.

In 2007, a 32-foot thresher shark was caught in a net off Cornwall, England. It weighed 1,250 pounds, but because it was landed by a commercial fisherman with trawl gear, it could not have qualified for an IGFA record.

Mark the Shark explained that the 20-foot thresher was kept at the request of his clients. “The shark fed a lot of people,” he said.

Gaza-Israel conflict: a chilling snapshot from space

A German astronaut with the European Space Agency is showing the world what the fighting between Gaza and Israel looks like from space.

Alexander Gerst captured two very similar images recently from the International Space Station. They reveal city lights, but also explosions and missile or rocket trails streaming across the sky.

On Wednesday, Gerst posted one of the images to Facebook and Twitter, beneath the caption: "My saddest photo yet. From #ISS we can actually see explosions and rockets flying over #Gaza & #Israel." (The image is posted above.)

Many of the Facebook comments, in German-language, are from people blaming one side or the other for a conflict that seems to have no viable resolution.

The images were posted at a time when Israel was facing new political and economic pressure—U.S. flights to Israel remained suspended as of the time of this post—to seek ways to halt deadly fighting that has raged for more than two weeks.

It would be incredible, most would agree, if Gerst could capture images during a cease-fire, for the sake of comparison. The sooner the better.

–Pete Thomas

–Hat tip to Space.com

Southern right whale gives kayakers a lift off Argentina

 

Two paddlers enjoyed the thrill of lifetime recently off Argentina, when their kayak was lifted out of the water by a southern right whale.

The man and woman might also be lucky that they weren’t injured, because this does not appear to be a case where the whales actively approached the kayak.

Alisa Schulman-Janiger, a California-based whale researcher, said after watching the footage that the paddlers appear to have stopped paddling, and their momentum carried them toward the whales as the cetaceans milled at the surface.

Video screen grab

(One paddle can be seen out of the water, and stationary, in the moments before the subtle impact.)

“They basically floated onto the whale,” Schulman-Janiger said. “And that impact, although it was very gentle, could have startled the whale, and it could have had a different reaction.”

The encounter occurred at Puerto Madryn, Patagonia, and it’s worth noting that southern right whales in the region are famously boat friendly and curious toward humans. They also help support a thriving commercial whale-watching industry.

The YouTube video description, translated by Bing, contains little information besides this brief statement:

“An incredible evening, lots of sun, kayaking and whale watching. As we watched from the top of the kayak… one of the whales turned and came towards our direction and lifted the boat twice!”

An unforgettable experience, to be sure.

–Pete Thomas, via GrindTv Outdoor

'Who needs Mexico?' as tuna, yellowtail, mahi-mahi invade Southern California waters

Dorado (mahi-mahi) caught Thursday off Dana Point; photo via Dana Wharf Sportfishing

By Pete Thomas, via GrindTv Outdoor

Something very fishy is happening off Southern California. Anglers are kelp paddy-hopping and discovering enormous schools of yellowtail beneath the floating amber masses.

Fishermen are trolling through schools of dolphins and hooking yellowfin tuna–as close as five miles from shore and as far north as Oxnard. Anglers are even catching dorado, or mahi-mahi, and bluefin tuna.

It’s a dreamlike situation for those who like to target these fish, because they don’t have to embark on a multiday boat voyage far down the Baja California peninsula, or fly to Cabo San Lucas or La Paz.

Yellowfin tuna caught off Dana Point; photo via Dana Wharf Sportfishing

Instead, the tropical and sub-tropical species (yellowfin and dorado, in particular) have come to them, courtesy of El Niño-like conditions that have warmed water temperatures to an unseasonably high 71 to 75 degrees, extending far offshore.

“People are like, “Who needs Mexico?’” said Donna Kalez, general manager of Dana Wharf Sportfishing in Dana Point. “You should see our public launch ramp. It’s the longest line we’ve seen in 10 years.”

Reads one of many Facebook comments from bewildered fishermen, enthused by rarity of catching yellowfin tuna locally in July, beneath traveling dolphin pods: "NOBODY has ever caught tuna off Porpoise in Southern California or Northern Baja waters.......EVER."

Kalez said fishing for exotic species on this magnitude has not occurred since 1997, which marked the beginning of the last major El Niño. The waters off Dana Point in Orange County have been particularly productive.

Yellowfin tuna caught off Dana Point; photo via Dana Wharf Sportfishing

Dana Wharf's boat, the Fury, on Wednesday returned with 99 yellowtail, and a small number of tuna. Another boat, the Dana Pride, logged a Thursday catch of 55 yellowtail, 13 dorado and three yelowfin. The Clemente had bluefin aboard it's mixed bag of fish.

This kind of fishing is unheard of locally in July, and almost unheard of for any time of year.

Cody Martin was on a private boat Wednesday, fishing 30 miles off Dana Point.He reported catching a 30-pound yellowfin tuna, a 40-pound dorado, and 10 yellowtail. That sounds like a fish story coming from the Sea of Cortez.

Capt. Shawn Morgon, of the private yacht Good Karma, was fishing off Santa Catalina Island and caught a beautiful dorado. He shared the photo Thursday on Facebook, and we’ve posted it here.

Dorado caught at Catalina on Wednesday; photo by Shawn Morgon

But the exotic species did not stop at Dana Point. They’ve been biting to the north, off Huntington Beach, since Monday.

On Wednesday a private boater reported catching 15 yellowfin tuna off Oxnard, which as far as we know has not happened since 1997.

Fishing is so good off Southern California that owners of some San Diego-based long-range boats, which typically venture far into Mexican waters, are requesting that anglers bring California fishing licenses, because they might be fishing locally.

Somewhat ironically, this incredible and unusual bite began just as Mexico was ordering a ban on fishing for bluefin tuna, as the bluefin bite was in full swing off Baja. Now bluefin schools are being encountered off Southern California, where there is no sportfishing ban.

Said Don Ashley, owner of Pierpoint Sportfishing in Long Beach: “From our point of view, why drive all the way to San Diego to turn around and come back here?”

Ashley’s overnight boat, the Toronado, returned to port Wednesday with 50-plus yellowfin tuna.

Said Philip Friedman, host of Spanish-language and English-language fishing radio shows in Southern California: “Because of Mexico’s bluefin closure, and with some bluefin and all those yellowfin entering U.S. waters, it’s a perfect opportunity to catch both species in the U.S., and avoid the Mexican permits and other costs associated with fishing on that side of the border."

Friedman then added: “And we’re not finished with the exotics. This is just the beginning. I would not be surprised to see a blue marlin caught locally, or even a wahoo. It’s going to be that kind of a season.”

Float plane's near-miss with whale captured on video

A float plane pilot’s sharp vision and reflexes appears to have saved a collision between the landing aircraft and a surfacing whale in Southeast Alaska.

The close call occurred July 10 in the community of Angoon, and was videotaped by Thomas Hamm of San Diego, California.

 
Hamm told the Alaska Dispatch that his video capture was “just a lucky shot.”

In the footage viewers can see the pilot adjust to the sudden presence of the whale just as the airplane is about to touch down, and as the whale comes up for a breath.

The float plane serves several communities in the region. Angoon is on Admiralty Island and boasts a population of 459 (not counting the whales), and is reachable only via float plane.

–Pete Thomas

–Hat tip to GrindTv Outdoor

 

 

Baja fishing boat damaged in collision with whale shark

The boat is badly damaged but the fishermen are OK, while it remains unclear how the whale shark fared.

Whale shark image is generic

The collision occurred Saturday in the Sea of Cortez, and involved the vessel Jen Wren, which runs from the Baja California community of Buena Vista.

Mark Rayor, owner of Jen Wren Sportfishing, recalled the incident this week in his “East Cape–A day in the life” column. 

The Jen Wren had been cruising into the bright glare of the sun, and Chuy, the captain, did not see the whale shark until after it was struck.

“It had punched the shaft strut through the bottom of the boat and they were taking on a massive amount of water,” Rayor wrote.

As Rayor, aboard the Jen Wren III, sped toward the damaged vessel’s position, the Jen Wren’s crew managed to stem some of the water flow. It also managed to get the bilge pumping water out of the boat as swiftly as possible.

When Rayor arrived the transfer of anglers was safely made, and a Jen Wren III crewman, Diego, jumped over to help Chuy.

“Between Chuy, Diego and Manuel they finally got the other raw water hose off the intake and into the bilge.  Now, with both motors pumping, they were able to keep up with the water leak and limp back to Buena Vista,” Rayor wrote, adding: "I believe it was the experience and competence of skipper Chuy that saved the day and stopped a bad situation from turning into a disaster."

To be sure, since this collision occurred far offshore, the safety of the passengers was the first consideration.

Rayor explained that work is underway toward getting Jen Wren fit for fishing. It needs a new shaft, and repairs to the prop and strut.

As for the whale shark, Saturday was a day in the life it probably wishes it could start over.

Fortunately, these types of incidents are extremely rare, thanks to the sharp eyes of Baja's veteran captains and crews.

–Pete Thomas

 

Alaska angler's 482-pound halibut is catch of a lifetime

Photo courtesy of Devin Brown/Alaskan Anglers Inn

A Southern California angler visiting Alaska has landed one of the largest halibut ever caught, and could be in the running for a world record were it not for the manner by which the 482-pound fish was subdued.

Jack McGuire, 76, who is from Santa Ana, reeled in the  barn-door-plus halibut after a 40-minute fight while fishing last week with three friends out of the remote port of Gustavus, near Glacier Bay.

The International Game Fish Assn. lists a 459-pound halibut, caught out of Dutch Harbor, Alaska, in 1996, as the world record.

McGuire’s catch will not be considered for a record because it was shot and harpooned—grounds for disqualification—before being hauled on to the 28-foot charter boat, Icy Rose.

However, that method of dispatch is deemed safest among veteran Alaska captains when trying to subdue giant halibut, which are powerful and dangerous if hauled onto the boat with just a gaff, or series of gaffs, leaving them too lively.

Halibut flopping violently on decks have been known to inflict serious damage to vessels and their equipment. They've also injured a fair number of crew members.

McGuire’s catch is among a small number to have exceeded IGFA record size, but the Alaska Dispatch reports that it “appears to be the largest halibut caught in the Pacific Ocean in at least a decade.”

A halibut estimated to weigh 466 pounds (the scale was not big enough to get an official weight) was caught off Gustavus in 2011. ("Barn door" is a term used to describe halibut weighing 300 pounds or more.)

The largest known Alaskan halibut, caught by an angler, weighed 495 pounds.

McGuire said he knew he had hooked a large fish, but had no idea how large until Captain Rye Phillips saw it rising from below. McGuire told the Orange County Register that Phillips exclaimed: “Oh my god. This is a monster!”

McGuire supported Phillips’ decision to shoot the fish—“I wasn’t planning to catch a world record,” he said—so it could not hurt anyone aboard the relatively small charter boat.

However, Andy Martin, who is Phillips’ boss, told the Alaska Dispatch: “I think if [Phillips] had known how big it was, he wouldn’t have shot it.”

The 95-inch halibut yielded 200 pounds of meat, which was divided evenly among McGuire and his three friends.

McGuire said the catch was a perfect capper for what is likely his last big fishing trip to Alaska. “To be honest, I had made up my mind that it was my last trip to Alaska anyways, so I can go out with flair,” he said. “What do I do now, go out and catch one bigger?”

–Pete Thomas, via GrindTv Outdoor