As I've mentioned in this Instagram post, "there's no time for down time" on this Antarctica trip. Sometimes, it means having to finish dinner quickly, in spite of yummy food and interesting conversation, to meet the school of humpback whales.
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At first, it seemed that we were the ones approaching these whales, which newly arrived from their wintering grounds off the west coast of South and Central America. Their skin glitter under the setting sun while we witnessed them porpoise ahead of us. Soon, we realized that they were the ones in control, especially the three that could be circling the ship in one minute and playing hide-and-seek the next. Our eyes looked hard into the ocean as if our vision could peel through the cold and dark surface. Just as we thought we got a hang of knowing where they show up next, a very showy one decided to raise its "hand" to say hi, only then to flap hard into the water. And he'd do it again and again, as we exclaimed in awe. What a flirt! :-)
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Now, the parting question I have for you is, based on this graph, are these the same whales that we have seen in the Pacific ocean off of California lately? And why?
