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Darke
County Senior Scribes
Bubble Net Feeding
By Delbert Blickenstaff, M.D.
Off the coast of Alaska the Humpback whales have an amazing feeding
technique called bubble net feeding. It works like this.
The matriarch whale in a group that usually numbers eight to ten whales
makes the bubble net. She does this by swimming in a circle below a
school of fish blowing out a constant stream of bubbles.
As these bubbles rise to the surface they form a net that catches many
small fish. While she is doing this she sends a signal to the others in
her pod by emitting a constant sound that slowly rises in pitch.
The bubble net arrives at the surface at the peak of her signal and all
the whales come up with their mouths open. The captain of the boat that
we were riding in had lowered a microphone into the water so that we
could hear the sound as well as see the feeding. This happened several
times and we were told that we were lucky to see it.
For our cruise down the inner passage in 1999 we flew into Anchorage
and were then bussed to Seward. Our bus driver decided that his job
included telling jokes to his captive audience. Only one of his jokes
bears repeating.
It seems that a cross country skier came face to face with a big brown
bear. The man fell to his knees and prayed: “Please Lord, let this be a
Christian bear.” When he opened his eyes he was surprised to see that
the bear was also on his knees praying: “I thank you Lord, for this
meal that you have provided.”
When we boarded the ms Statendam at Seward we met my sister Charlotte
and her husband Bob Irick who joined us for the cruise. The ship made
several stops along the way and we especially enjoyed Sitka.
A friend who lives in Sitka took us to a park where the bald eagles
nest and we heard them singing. We saw woodworkers carving a new totem
pole out of a red cedar log. Also we saw St. Michael’s Cathedral, a
Russian Orthodox Church, but we weren’t allowed to take photos.
When we docked at Juneau we took a tour to the huge Mendenhall Glacier
where we saw blue ice. Then we took a Wildlife Cruise in a small boat
and that was where we saw the bubble net feeding.
Of course during the cruise on the ms Statendam there was food
available all the time. We enjoyed watching the machine which cut an
orange in two halves and then squeezed out fresh orange juice. The
cruise is considered a failure if one does not gain five pounds.
Our ship docked in Vancouver, B C. and we said good bye to Bob and
Charlotte. Then we had a three hour tour Vancouver before arriving at
our hotel.
The next day we went to Victoria, B. C. where we saw the beautiful
Buchart Gardens. Our flight back home was comfortable and we were glad
to be back from a memorable trip. Did I mention the whales?
Delbert Blickenstaff, M. D.
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