the other hand, when the whales elect to 
use brawn rather than brain, some inter- 
esting things happen. Breaching, lob 
tailing, and other surface behaviors are 
occasionally used as herding methods. A 
whale engaged in lob tailing raises its 
flukes and a portion of the rear end of its 
body clear of the water, then forcefully 
slaps the flukes down on the surface. 
This is sometimes done with a direct up 
and down motion of the flukes. At other 
times, it involves a tremendous diagonal 
sweep with the flukes and resembles 
nothing so much as a whale turning 
cartwheels. In either case, lob tailing 
results in a tremendous splash and, if 
you happen to be a herring swimming in 
the vicinity, a stunning concussion. Thus 
lob tailing may serve both to stun nearby 
herring, allowing leisurely feeding, and 
possibly to drive or herd herring. 
Both lob tailing and breaching are 
performed at times by individual 
whales, and on some occasions certainly 
serve purposes unrelated to feeding. We 
saw instances of a humpback lob tailing 
on the fringes of a group of whales 
engaged in feeding. It may have been 
that the lob tailing (or breaching) whale 
was coordinating its efforts with those of 
the other whales, assisting by pushing 
food toward the pod. Such whales are 
helping to set the table if you will permit 
such an image. Once the table is set, the 
humpbacks are noisy and enthusiastic 
eaters; one constantly catches glimpses 
of herring streaming down chins. 
Our observations of humpbacks feed- 
ing in Alaska during the late fall and 
winter months raise more questions than 
they answer. Which whales are winter- 
ing-over in the north? Are they sexually 
immature whales? Or old whales? Or 
are they cows with calves? And why do 
they stay? Do they need more food? 
Can’t they make the long journey south 
with their peers? And is it the same 
group that stays each year or a different 
one? 
By spending large portions of their 
own winters watching the humpbacks in 
remote and rainy regions of Alaska, 
whale researchers are looking for an- 
swers to these questions. □ 
When a group of humpbacks 
feed on fish, vertical and horizontal 
lunges can be seen simultaneously. 
Seagulls circle overhead, for dead 
and injured fish offer easy 
pickings for these scavengers. 
