The One That Got Away -- Humpback Whale at Avila Beach, California Canvas Print

One lucky fish escapes the maw of a humpback whale.

Humpback whales are a species of baleen whale, which use the large filter-like structure to capture krill, plankton, and small schooling fish inside its mouth while allowing the water to drain out. The humpback has several methods of hunting, the most unique being "bubble net feeding" where a group of whales swims in a shrinking circle blowing bubbles below a school of prey. This forces the fish into a small column where the whales come up from below, mouths open, and swallow thousands of fish in a single gulp. They can consume up to 3,000 pounds of food per day. Adult humpback whales range in length from about 40 to 60 feet and weigh between 25 and 40 tons, with the females being larger than males. Newborns weigh about one ton and are around fifteen feet in length. They live about fifty years.

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