Rare footage shows elusive 'yellow whales' in stunning detail
A San Diego-based ecotour operator has captured stunning aerial footage, perhaps first of its kind, showing Cuvier’s beaked whales swimming along the surface.
“You’ve heard of blue whales, you’ve heard of gray whales, you’ve probably even heard legends of white whales, but have you ever heard of a yellow whale?” Dom Biagini, owner of Gone Whale Watching San Diego, asked on Facebook after his encounter last Saturday. “A weekend of incredible sightings was capped by a remarkable encounter with Cuvier’s beaked whales: one of the most elusive and mysterious cetaceans on earth!”
The encounter occurred during an 8-hour expedition 70 miles offshore, at a depth of 6,000 feet.
Cuvier’s beaked whales, which are widespread but reside far offshore and are infrequently encountered, can be dark gray, reddish-brown, or brownish-yellow.
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According to NOAA Fisheries, this coloration is caused by an infestation of microscopic diatoms and algae.
As viewers can see in Biagini’s drone footage, beaked whales bear scars caused by cookie-cutter sharks, lampreys, and fighting among themselves (mostly males).
Cuvier’s beaked whales, which can measure 20-plus feet, are the planet’s deepest-diving whales. The deepest known dive, recorded off Southern California in 2014, is 2,992 meters, or 9,816 feet. That’s nearly two miles.
More recently a Cuvier’s beaked whale was recorded diving a record 222 minutes – or 3 hours, 42 minutes – before surfacing for air.
Biagini said the beaked whales his crew and passengers observed had been preying on squid and at one point surfaced next to the boat with squid in their mouths.
“This is some of the only drone footage ever taken of this species, and it was an amazing moment for everyone involved,” Biagini remarked. “Initially 12 of these yellowish-brown whales appeared as we were waiting for one of the many blue whales that we had been observing to surface.
“After a 30-minute dive, half-a-dozen Cuvier’s returned to the surface with chunks of squid right next to our boat! The water depth was over 6,000 feet in this location, which is nothing for a Cuvier’s as they are the deepest diving animal on earth!”
Biagini said his group also enjoyed a rare encounter with Bryde’s whales and promised to share footage in the coming days.