This time of year, humpback whales make their annual trip to the warm waters of the South Pacific to mate. Today"s image finds us swimming alongside a humpback mother and her young calf near the Polynesian island chain of Tonga. There are six main humpback populations in the southern Pacific, and this pair is part of the one that"s often called the "Tongan Tribe." The humpbacks of the Tongan Tribe return each year from their feeding grounds off Antarctica—a journey of more than 4,000 miles. Through November, the cows will stay in this region while their newborn calves grow strong enough to make the trek back to the cold Antarctic waters where their main food source—the small crustacean called krill—is abundant.
A whale of a hug
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
-
FOR FOREST by Klaus Littmann
-
Wicker fields in Cañamares, Spain
-
Cool water in the Quinault
-
Mildred B. Cooper Memorial Chapel in Arkansas
-
Tall, taller, tallest
-
Over the boardwalk
-
Work out on your way to work
-
A winter’s holiday ends
-
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
-
Let s crack the code
-
The Christmas Bird Count begins
-
Jöriseen lakes in the Silvretta Alps, Switzerland
-
Hey neighbor, it s World Space Week!
-
Room at the top?
-
Earth Day
-
Churún Merú waterfall in Venezuela
-
League of Nations, 100 years later
-
What does the fox dream?
-
A wassailing we go
-
Tiny fliers head south
-
Blackbird in Essex, England
-
Life carries on, rising from a ship s skeleton
-
Celebrating women in science
-
National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
-
Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, China
-
Does this shark have an Irish accent?
-
Global commerce in motion
-
Sligachan Old Bridge, Isle of Skye, Scotland
-
Christmas Eve
-
Happy Boxing Day!