White water spreads across a dark sea, and several enormous bodies appear together at the surface. AkXpro’s short film of humpback whales in Alaska offers a striking view of an activity that is much harder to follow from the height of a boat.
The creator published Humpback Whales Bubble Feeding Drone Views in November 2014. At 88 seconds, it is a brief encounter, but the overhead perspective gives the whales’ movements room to make sense.
Why are the whales gathering in a circle?
The film identifies the behaviour as bubble feeding. In coordinated bubble-net feeding, whales release curtains of bubbles that concentrate small fish, then rise to engulf the gathered prey. NOAA’s humpback whale guide explains that different groups use different bubble structures and feeding techniques.
That context changes the scene. The whales are doing something more purposeful than simply swimming together. Their arrangement is connected to finding food, and the surface commotion is only the visible part of the event.
Watch the water as well as the whales
On a first viewing, it is natural to follow the largest body. On a second, look at the surrounding patches of foam and the spacing between animals. Those details help reveal the shape of the group without assuming that every whale performs exactly the same role.
The footage does not establish how often this happens at a particular location, and a whale-watching trip cannot promise the same encounter. Enjoy the aerial view as a window into the animals’ feeding behaviour, rather than a model for approaching them closely.
Continue with whales beneath Norway’s northern lights, or explore Alaska through a wider landscape collection.
A feeding event is more than a group portrait
The original short description treated the whales as companions simply gathering together. The creator’s title supplies the more useful context: bubble feeding. That changes what to look for in the film. Instead of watching only for the largest body at the surface, follow the water, the timing of the surfacing and the relationship between the animals’ positions.
NOAA describes humpbacks as animals that use several feeding techniques, with some using bubbles to concentrate prey. The filmed event should not become a claim that every humpback group performs the same coordinated behaviour or that a whale-watching trip will reproduce it. A short sequence documents one encounter, even when the overhead perspective makes the pattern unusually clear.
The aerial angle also leaves parts of the action unseen. Surface disturbance can reveal where something happened without showing every movement beneath it. That is one reason the film and a biological explanation complement each other: the images make the event memorable, while the explanation helps distinguish feeding from the human idea of animals casually playing together.
Reference: www.fisheries.noaa.gov
Sources, photography and further reading
Original feature and image attributions:
- Vimeo
- Viral Nova
- Photos of Alaska: Then And Now. This is A Get Ready to Be Shocked When You See What it Looks Like Now.
- 5 Photos Of Alaska Will Blow Your Mind
- Valdez, Alaska - Helicopter Skiing And Snowboarding
- NOAA’s humpback whale guide
- whales beneath Norway’s northern lights
- Alaska through a wider landscape collection
Current reference information, checked 15 September 2026:
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