Whales And Dolphins Put On Show In Costa Rica South Pacific

Humpback whales have taken over the south Pacific of Costa Rica, providing for several months a spectacular show of beauty and majesty as they swim with their young.

From July to October it is common for the mammals, which can weigh up to 30 tons and measure up to 20 metres long, take over the Bahía Ballena and Drake Bay, in Punta Uvita de Osa, Puntarenas.


Humpback Whale off the coast of Costa Ballena

Whales can live up to 50 years, travelling thousands of miles from the southern hemisphere to the warmer, calm and shallow waters of Costa Rica to mate and bear their young.

After, the whales migrate back to the southern hemisphere to feed, where the waters are cold and there is a high food availability.

Humpback whales from the north also vacation in Costa Rica, but they do so in January.

Joining the whales for some Costa Rican vacation fun are also dolphins, that put on another spectacular show of dynamic jumps out of the water to the delight of tourists.

In fact, Costa Rica enjoys the longest season of Humpback Whales in the world.

With a round, wide body that narrows towards the tail, and a flattened, slender head, the humpback has a characteristic shape. The white lumps on its head and jaw are home to parasites, whale lice (cirripeds), and crustaceans living in the whale's follicles or hairy tubercles. The main body color is black to gray, with lighter skin on the throat and belly and wide ridges along the length of the white skin. The humpback whale has a relatively small dorsal fin, and large flippers that are white on the edges.

The humpback can be seen breaching in coastal waters, lunging out of the water and smashing its huge back onto the water. Traveling alone, in small pods, or groups of up to 15 in feeding and breeding waters, these large, distinct whales are always exciting to see. The conspicuous fin and back rise out of the water as the humpback surfaces to breathe. The most acrobatic of the large whales, it bursts into the air with breathtaking energy and speed, even though most of the time it does not swim very fast (12 km/h) and only dives for about 15 minutes at a time.

Humpbacks communicate via sophisticated vocalizations. Since these social whales tend to congregate near coasts, they were especially exposed and devastated by whaling ships before they were declared a protected species in 1964. Unfortunately, whalers are still allowed to kill the humpback off the western coast of Greenland and Lesser Antilles. This large sea acrobat is also vulnerable to attack by killer whales.

The humpback hunts krill, plankton, and fish (such as cod, capelin, or herring). It captures prey in an interesting way: it circles beneath the shoal, making a ring of bubbles around the prey, causing them to rise slowly towards the surface; once they are surrounded in a net of bubbles, the humpback opens its large mouth and swallows them.