A whale of a picture Mar 24, 2021

A whale of a picture

The family drama you see playing out here in the Pacific Ocean near Maui, Hawaii, is a humpback whale calf getting a little nudge from its mom. She presumably wants the sleepy youngster to practice surfacing, something these amazing marine mammals are famous for doing in dramatic fashion. Winter is calving season for the Hawaiian population of humpbacks. Thousands arrive from their feeding grounds in the North Pacific to swim and breed in the warm Hawaiian waters, making them a common sight from November until April. Because they"re known to hang around near the ocean"s surface, breaching or slapping the water with their tails, humpbacks are a favorite of whale watchers everywhere.

© Ralph Pace/Minden Pictures

palette

Today in History

Mar 24, 2018Crimson-rumped toucanet in the Refugio Paz de Las Aves, Ecuador
Mar 24, 201930 years after Exxon Valdez
Mar 24, 2020Springtime in the Mediterranean
Mar 24, 2022Red squirrel
Mar 24, 2023Wild garlic in bloom at Hainich National Park, Germany
Mar 24, 2024Silvereyes in South Korea
Mar 24, 2025African bush elephants in Namibia

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Jan 15, 2024Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Jul 18, 2022Marine Day in Japan
Sep 17, 2022Oktoberfest
Jan 30, 2023Ice and Snow Sailing World Championships
Aug 6, 2021Looking down upon Edinburgh
May 25, 2022The Alhambra in Granada, Spain
Jan 13, 2025Happy Welsh New Year!
Oct 16, 2019Paleontology meets art
May 23, 2018Everybody loves World Turtle Day
Mar 31, 2025Ostuni, Apulia, Italy
Dec 29, 2021Mountain goats
Aug 14, 2019Lizard of mystery
Jun 28, 2021A medieval celebration in the Mediterranean
Jul 22, 2019Let’s go mothing
Dec 12, 2022Poinsettia Day
Dec 15, 2018A long winter’s nap, perhaps?
May 26, 2022Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve in Costa Rica
Jan 1, 2021Take the plunge into 2021
May 17, 2020My my, it s Syttende Mai
May 12, 2024Happy Mothers Day!
Mar 2, 2024Modica, Sicily, Italy
Jul 19, 2021Wander the ancient medina
Sep 20, 2020Celebrating sea otters
May 19, 2020Loud waters
Jul 15, 2020Who left the tub running?
May 15, 2023The Canary Islands, Spain
Dec 22, 2019You ve never seen anything like this
Feb 4, 2024Devetashka Cave, Devetaki, Bulgaria
Apr 13, 2024Apple trees in spring, Germany
Feb 15, 2018The Feathers at Frenchman Coulee near Vantage, Washington