Animals Show Marine Mammals (Whales, Seals, Otters)

[WhidbeyLVR]

Please share your images of marine mammals, including:

• whales, dolphins, etc. (cetaceans)
• seals, sea lions, walrus, etc. (pinnipeds)
• manatees, sea cows (sirenians)
• otters
• polar bears

Images from zoos, aquariums,and other captive situations are welcome, but please identify them as such.

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Singing

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Otter Family 4

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Say "Ahh!"

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The Flying Pickle Rises Again

 

[WhidbeyLVR]

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Another Basking Sea Lion

 

[WhidbeyLVR]

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Coffee and Cream

 

[bartjeej]

I'm officially jealous of you for having these wonderful creatures nearby! Great shots, keep 'em coming! I'm also looking forward to seeing what marine mammals other members have spotted

 

[WhidbeyLVR]

I'm also looking forward to seeing what marine mammals other members have spotted

Me too.

 

[WhidbeyLVR]

I'm officially jealous of you for having these wonderful creatures nearby!

Most of the above are from a recent trip to California. The "Flying Pickle" was from Maui just before the pandemic shut everything down. We do have whales, seals, sea lions and otters here in Puget Sound, but I see them less often here than in California. More images of juvenile elephant seals from last October:

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Beached

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Backrubs

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Choirboys


These images are from the Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery near San Simeon (Hearst Castle). The juveniles crowd the beaches in late fall, then the cows start coming in to give birth in December. Finally, the adult bulls show up in January to compete for mating opportunities. I'll share some old pix of that action soon. @guzziknight has a great set of images for the late December period at a different California beach here:

Animals - Elephant Seals

We went on a guided tour at Año Nuevo State Beach, just south of Pescadero, CA. This is the primary mating/birthing area for Elephant Seals. They begin to come ashore in December. Right now, there’s a few hundred there, by this time next month, there will be thousands.

cameraderie.org

 

[WhidbeyLVR]

A few more sea otters...

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Sea Otter 6

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Sea Otter 5

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Otter Family 5

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Otter Family 2

 

[guzziknight]

Most of the above are from a recent trip to California. The "Flying Pickle" was from Maui just before the pandemic shut everything down. We do have whales, seals, sea lions and otters here in Puget Sound, but I see them less often here than in California. More images of juvenile elephant seals from last October:


View attachment 288573
Beached


View attachment 288574
Backrubs


View attachment 288575
Choirboys


These images are from the Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery near San Simeon (Hearst Castle). The juveniles crowd the beaches in late fall, then the cows start coming in to give birth in December. Finally, the adult bulls show up in January to compete for mating opportunities. I'll share some old pix of that action soon. @guzziknight has a great set of images for the late December period at a different California beach here:

Animals - Elephant Seals

We went on a guided tour at Año Nuevo State Beach, just south of Pescadero, CA. This is the primary mating/birthing area for Elephant Seals. They begin to come ashore in December. Right now, there’s a few hundred there, by this time next month, there will be thousands.

cameraderie.org

Thanks for the mention! Great shots here.

 

[WhidbeyLVR]

I promised to post a few images of the mature elephant seals. Here it is. These are from late December of 2013, which is a bit early for mating season, but the younger bulls were already coming in and beating each other up. These were taken with my first M43 camera (E-PL5) and the m.Zuiko 75-300mm lens.

Bull Elephant Seal

Older Bull Elephant Seal

Elephant Seal Cow and Calf

Aggressive Young Bulls

The Bite

 

[WhidbeyLVR]

Just in case you thought it was a one-sided affair. . .

Giving As Good As You Get

 

[DM Larson]

This is a great thread. I wish I had images that fit this, but all I can do is enjoy the great shots from others.

 

[WhidbeyLVR]

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Sea Otter Hits the Bottle

Sea otters will often pick up a rock and balance it on their chest as they swim on their back. They use it as an anvil to break open mussels or other shellfish. This one found a high tech rock.

 

[Petrochemist]

otter IMGP0930 by Mike Kanssen, on Flickr

 

[lucien]

@ Mike, I don't know if you saw what it killed for lunch. But it doesn't look like seafood. Any idea? Looks like a baby mammal

 

[Petrochemist]

@ Mike, I don't know if you saw what it killed for lunch. But it doesn't look like seafood. Any idea? Looks like a baby mammal

Sorry I didn't see it whole, but yes I agree definitely mammalian rather than piscine.

 

[Zeus1]

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[WhidbeyLVR]

Breach 2

Flukes Wave Goodbye

E-M5.2 and m.Zuiko 75-300mm

 

[AlwaysOnAuto]

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Sea World - 17 years ago

 

[Petrochemist]

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Sea World - 17 years ago

Could that be the same whale I saw at sea world ~40 years ago? Doing just the same trick.

 

[WhidbeyLVR]

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Sea World - 17 years ago

Nikon Coolpix E995. 3.3Mp, strange swivel body. I think I was still using a Kodak DC290 back then — only 2Mp — and I thought it was great that I had a multi-megapixel electronic camera.