Personally, I've spotted whales for the past 7-8 years. Up until the past two years, the whales always seemed to stay miles off shore, only coming up to spout here and there, and disappearing from sight in a minute or two. The past two years, however have been completely different. Large schools of Menhaden have been migrating south bringing the Humpbacks inshore with them. Humpbacks have been spotted not much farther out than the tips of the jetties.
The Humpbacks are generally moving south with the schools of Menhaden. Find a school of Menhaden, and you have a good chance at finding a whale. Humpbacks have been spotted along the shore lunge feeding for hours. I have been fortunate enough to witness some of the Humpbacks using the "bubble net" technique, in which a Humpback will blow a large circle/ring of bubbles to confuse the Menhaden. The Humpback then gathers speed and comes up underneath the bubble circle with mouth wide open. Humpbacks are the largest marine mammals in the ocean, so you might think they are slow moving. The speed at which this happens is absolutely incredible. Once the whale has a mouth full of fish, it closes its mouth and uses its tongue to force water out through the baleen. Baleen is the hair-like material which lines a whales mouth, allowing water to filter out of its mouth and fish to stay trapped inside.
A full grown Humpback can consume several thousand pounds of food each day. On several occasions along the Jersey Shore, Humpbacks stayed feeding in an area for several hours, moving on when it seemed there were no more Menhaden to be eaten.
The best action I've seen has been over last two years; Fall has been the best time for spotting them actively feeding. October seems to be a good month, but again, it all depends on where the Menhaden are. Late Spring, early Summer can also be a time for possibly seeing the whales around.
So the next time you are along the Jersey Shore, take a stroll along the beach or the boards. While you walk, scan the water and the horizon for spouts and schools of fish......you just might have a whale of an encounter! All images in this blog were taken from the beach using a Nikon D500 and a Nikon 200-500mm.
The morning before Hurricane Gonzalo headed up the coast, I took my morning cruise along the beach searching for some of the local surf crew to shoot. Looking down the coastline I saw the most amazing wave I had ever seen. A formation unlike any other that rose up high into the air, curled, hollowed for a split second and crashed down. I had to get to the break and hope it happened again. Finding the location where this had occurred, I realized with the slope of the shoreline, water was surging up the beach then rushing back out toward deeper water, creating a back wave; a small wave that heads out into the break. As new waves formed and came in, the two waves collided, forming some of the most incredible wave formations I have ever seen in my area.
After setting up, I knew the chances of seeing such an incredible wave as I had seen from up the coast, were slim. I shot for nearly 3 hours, capturing some very cool wave patterns but nothing that was off the charts. Then it happened. A huge wave surged up the beach, causing all that water to flow back out toward the ocean, slamming into another incoming set wave. The impact created my most popular and asked for shot to date.....the shot I call "The Surge"
The following slideshow are some of the shots from that 3 hours of shooting and the big one...."The Surge". Hope you enjoy.
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Winter surf often has solid over head waves with waters hitting low temperatures in the 30 degree range. 5mil wet suit, boots, hood, and gloves are a must. Huge surf often follows severe winter storms, often resulting in waters that resembles chocolate milk rather than the typical ocean blue/green.
Frigidly cold waters accompanied by air temps hitting the single digits....It takes a special person, who truly loves to surf, to paddle out. But, these are the days that makes Jersey a spot like no other. These are the days surfers will drive from New York and PA to come and paddle out into the line up for a chance at a heavy Jersey barrel.
As Winter breaks, and waters warm and clean up, the gloves and boots come off. Surf tends to settle down unless you know the right spots. Wishes and hopes for a storm to come through are often heard when a long flat spell takes over.
Flat spells in the summer can last for weeks, but as summer draws to an end and Hurricane season starts to hit it's peak, Jersey often gets lucky. September marks the time when the Fosters Pro comes to Belmar. The cycle then starts all over again. New Jersey, not just boardwalks, seaside amusements and casinos, but a great place to surf as well.
Snowies have incredible eye sight and generally hunt at night, dawn, and dusk. They seemed to enjoy sitting high atop sand dunes, sign posts, and even roof tops. Often times they would sit for hours in the same spot.
These owls were virtually silent when they would take flight. Absolutely breath taking to see. Hoping they visit us again.
Photographing wildlife is by far the most challenging photography I have done. More often than not, a wildlife shot involves a tremendous amount of time and research. Finding a location to photograph your subject, considering the location of the sun, trees, and other natural surroundings, and determining the daily patterns of your subject, all come into play. Oh, and yes, occasionally you are in the right place at the right time, with the right gear. The Gray Seal pictured above was one of those times. This young seal was very ill and had stranded itself along one of our local beaches along the Jersey Shore. The seal was rescued by Marine Mammal Stranding Center and later released.
Some shots involve a test a patience and stealth. Sitting at a location for hours waiting for that one moment to arrive, or creeping through a field to get a better vantage point, or standing in ankle deep mud hoping....and waiting.....just a few scenarios. Island Beach State Park is a well known state park with great fishing, walking trails, and birding areas. Red Fox roam the park freely but unfortunately some have become almost tame due to people throwing food to them as they drive by. I have been to the park more times than I can count looking for a shot of a Red Fox in it's beach habitat with no sign of man in the image; no road, fence, building, car, etc....After observing a fox running about the dunes and brush, I decided to just sit along a sandy path and wait. Finally the fox shown below walked down the path toward me. Although the sun was behind the fox and not in the greatest location, it helped to add to the magnificent color in the fur and the shadow on the face brings out the look....
So next time you have time away from hustle and bustle of everyday....get out and enjoy your surroundings. Look around and observe your surroundings. Be patient, be quiet....look and listen. You just might be amazed at what you will see. Bring your camera along, for you just might see something so amazing your friends won't believe you. Perfect example is the shot below: While taking my morning stroll along a local beach (camera in hand of course) I spotted a pod of dolphins approaching....as they got closer they began to feed maybe 40yds. off the beach and then...this shot: It's an amazing world we live in....Get out there and live on the wild side!
