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Orca (Orcinus orca) lobtailing, Chatham Strait, Southeast Alaska, USA.

Orcas have many of the same behavioural characteristics on the surface as humpback whales, and possibly for the same reasons. I didn't observe orcas lobtailing or breaching as much as humpbacks. It's quite likely that this orca was lobtailing to herd salmon, just as humpback whales do to shock and herd shoals of herring into bays or along a shoreline.

Filename
Southeast-Alaska- orca12.jpg
Copyright
Duncan Murrell
Image Size
4321x2916 / 13.2MB
Contained in galleries
Orcas
Orcas have many of the same behavioural characteristics on the surface as humpback whales, and possibly for the same reasons. I didn't observe orcas lobtailing or breaching as much as humpbacks. It's quite likely that this orca was lobtailing to herd salmon, just as humpback whales do to shock and herd shoals of herring into bays or along a shoreline.