THINGS ARE BUBBLING UP IN HÚSAVÍK
As our recent post has mentioned, the end of June has been incredibly busy here in Skjálfandi Bay, with many humpback whales staying between the 22nd and 26th of June. During our evening tour on the 24th, we witnessed something truly fascinating that deserves a closer look.
We are no strangers to whales feeding with bubbles in our bay. Our dear Primeiro (HW-MN0101991 on @happywhale) does so quite often, in fact. But we always use this careful wording because we still do not know exactly what is happening beneath the surface.
The behaviour certainly resembles the famous bubble-net feeding behaviour. However, Primeiro does not always feed in groups, nor does it consistently create the tight circle of bubbles before surfacing in the centre with its mouth open.
The most famous examples of bubble-net feeding come from humpback whales in the North Pacific, where groups cooperate to create a circular net of bubbles before lunging through the centre. Because this behaviour is thought to be socially learned, one might not expect it to appear in distant humpback populations.
Contrary, bubble-net feeding has been documented in the Western Antarctic Peninsula, where it appears to have emerged within the last 20 years. It has also been photographed off eastern Australia, with the first Australian coastal records published in 2020.
Even more intriguing are reports of a solitary humpback performing bubble-net feeding in northeast Scotland. Some of the humpbacks we see here in Skjálfandi have also been matched to sightings around the British Isles, making us wonder whether some of our whales may have learned similar techniques there.
Then came the evening of June 24. We witnessed a large aggregation of humpback whales working together, creating a circular curtain of bubbles before surfacing in the middle with their mouths wide open. It may not have looked quite as synchronized as the spectacular videos from Alaska, but the behaviour itself was unmistakable.
Observations like these raise some fascinating questions. Has bubble-net feeding evolved independently in different parts of the world? Could this remarkable behaviour somehow spread between ocean populations? And where do we draw the line between simply feeding with bubbles and true bubble-net feeding? …and perhaps the most important question of all:
Is Primeiro secretly British?
Text: Charlie Carbunescu (guide), Photos: Sarah Arndt (captain and head guide)
