At Point Adolphus in Icy Strait, outside the boundaries of Glacier Bay National Park, we shared the seas with schools of herring that shimmered the waters, 40 or so bald eagles who swooped down on this bounty, and, yes, humpback whales. Both of these images depict a group behavior known as bubble feeding or lunge feeding. Over and over the whales rise together, scooping up great mouthfuls of herring and other food. After locating schools of herring or other fish, from underneath they release rings of bubbles that cause the confused fish to come together. The whales then rise open-mouthed through the food, gathering hundreds of gallons of water and food in their lower jaws that expand like the throats of bullfrogs. They then close their mouths, straining the food through the baleen of their upper jaws, shown here.

The weather proved rainy and windy during our visit with the whales, but did little to dampen our enthusiasm.
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