During several outings to Chugach Passage and the Chugach Islands we noticed a whale behavior that we had never seen before. A whale would surface in a bait-ball of fish and then partially close its mouth and reopen it in a 90 degree yawn, hold it for many seconds, then close it. We were always too far away to see what was happening but this time we got lucky...
We start here...
...count the puffins...
you can guess at the passage of time by following the movements of the birds...
...the whale starts to close its mouth...
(we’re guessing that the whale is feeling birds bouncing around in its mouth like beetles in soup)
and lacking the ability to spit..
...opens its mouth..
...holds and enables...
the puffins to escape. Look closely...
that is one movin’ puffin!
Bon Appetit!
