tubercles
By Clint Perry
@cperry2 (5608)
Newport, Oregon
April 28, 2020 9:03am CST
Is this some weird rock in the water? That is what it looks like to me.
Those out there who like to take lots of pictures might understand this situation and might even have a touch of sympathy. We took a tour out into the Gulf of Maine about three years ago to see the humpback whales in their feeding area. I had a telephoto lens attached to my Nikon and instead of having a whale a few hundred yards to a quarter-mile away as I had set up for, we had one surface within fifty yards of the boat. Way too close for the lens I had on the camera.
What you are looking at is the rostrum (head) of a humpback whale up close and personal. If you look at the right side of the picture, you can see the two blowholes (nostrils). One of the things that designate mammals from fish is hair. Wait, whales don't have hair, do they? Actually, they do. Those big bumps near the mouth are tubercles, they are the size of a man's fist and each one contains a hair follicle. The hair no longer breaks the surface but it is still there.
This was a great time, we had taken our son out to see what it is that mom and dad did with their spare time in Oregon. At first, he enjoyed the adventure then he got bored. Oh, well.
We were treated to nearly twenty different whales that day, and we were blessed with nearly flat water. (Very important because I typically get seasick anytime I go out on a boat. I did not on this day.)
And yes, the photo is mine.
3 people like this
2 responses
@VivaLaDani13 (60827)
• Perth, Australia
4 May 20
@cperry2 How incredible. I'd love to go whale watching but for me, I'd rather do it from a distance and on land. I love all animals ( both land and sea ) but anything bigger than me, freaks me out a little especially sea creatures. I have this fear of a huge whale flipping a boat over. I don't even know if that's common. Maybe I've just been traumatised from certain movies where that happens.
1 person likes this
@VivaLaDani13 (60827)
• Perth, Australia
5 May 20
@cperry2 If people are / were harassing whales, I will be honest when I say I don't have much sympathy for the people if their boat was flipped over. I mean, what do people do when there is an intruder in their home or are being harassed / hurt? They try to fight back ( well most of the time ) so that rule still applies to whales or any animal when a human is intruding on their home. That's how I see it anyway.
That is amazing! Not so much smelling the bad breath though. lol
1 person likes this
@VivaLaDani13 (60827)
• Perth, Australia
6 May 20
@cperry2 oh....that made my face scrunch up in disgust!
1 person likes this
@Lavanya15 (12888)
• Chennai, India
28 Apr 20
Wow amazing looking beautiful.. I don't see like those before. Thanks for sharing us.
1 person likes this