Breaching humpback
A humpback whale mid-breach off Hawai'i, where the species breeds all winter and does not feed at all until it turns north.
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The whale is clear of the water from the tail stock forward, rolled onto its left side, one pectoral fin thrown high, a curtain of water falling from its flank. Humpbacks run to about 60 feet and 40 tons; the genus name Megaptera means 'big-winged', after their long pectoral fins. They are often active at the surface, jumping clear and slapping it with fins or tail.
This one was photographed in March 2011, at the peak of the season that draws roughly half the North Pacific's humpbacks into Hawaiian waters to mate, calve and nurse. Some cross from Alaska, 3,000 miles, in as few as 28 days. They feed on krill and small fish strained through baleen, and do none of it here: humpbacks fast all winter, eating nothing until they turn north.