As usual, the first whales back are juveniles and those adult females which had calved the previous year. Males and some adult females without calves are usually the next ones back. New females are also being seen daily. Over the past 48 hours we have identified Nimbus, Onyx, Milky Way, Purity, Isthmus, Leukos, Loon, Rapier, and Nile. We were able to get some good pictures of the feeding session.
Right whales feed exclusively on tiny plankton, which occur in very dense swarms during the spring.
When they open their mouth, there is a huge triangular gap in the baleen at the front of the mouth. As the whale swims forward, water enters the mouth through the gap, and is pulled through the baleen by suction formed at the outside of the mouth. The hairs on the inside of the baleen trap the plankton as the water passes through. Whales will sometimes feed like this for hours, closing their mouth to swallow and clear the baleen every so often. In one view, the distinctive V-shaped spout of the right whale can also be clearly seen.