Amazing humpback whale calf breaching footage 2.7k

[jordkl]

Nice pics. Up here in Alaska they don't breach like that. Right now, View attachment 48065 I'm trying to get some good views of bubble feeding. NOAA here is in a bit of quandry about UAVs. Regular aircraft are limited to 500' (not sure where the 1000 comes from). Boats encroach all of the time. Whales encroach on the boats all of the time. During the local herring fishery, the whales are just swimming right around the seiners - none of this 300 yard business.

I've had them slam into my boat on a number of occasions and have to spend some quality time cleaning whale snot off of it (fun). They don't care much.

I think the big thing is not to bother them, like jordki notes. A UAV 50 feet above a whale is going to be less noticeable than a seagull (squawking it's head off).

the 1000 feet comes from the MMPA as a guideline. I hear alaska and washington have stricter rules about approaching whales with UAVs. haven't looked into it though. would be cool to see the bubble feeding from the air!

 

[IndyQuadFlyer]

That is some incredible footage! Thanks for sharing!

 

[ltcopley]

these shots are awesome! I've filmed on kauai and big island but Maui looks like it has the most action. I also spoke to a couple lawyers who specialize in the MMPA. bottom line is to not harass them or do anything that would/could alter their behavior.

I just got back from Kauai last week and got some decent shots of Waimea Falls. I wanted to fly into the canyons as well but it was windy that day.

 

[jordkl]

I just got back from Kauai last week and got some decent shots of Waimea Falls. I wanted to fly into the canyons as well but it was windy that day.

ah. such a beautiful place to fly. way to many helicopters in the canyon too.