Hunting Humpbacks: Whales Chase Herring in Feeding Frenzy

A DOZEN humpback whales emerge from the water during a feeding FRENZY

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John patiently watched until the whales began to breach

The magnificent creatures broke the surface of the sea to swallow large pockets of herring.

A whale of a time: Jon came across the herd of humpbacks while sailing in a boat

Jon Cornforth, 42, from Seattle, took the remarkable images during a tour of Alaska’s Inside Passage in August this year.

The magnificent creatures broke the surface of the sea to swallow large pockets of herring

While sailing on the boat Jon came across the herd of humpbacks working together to feed.

Jon Cornforth, 42, from Seattle, took the remarkable images during a tour of Alaska’s Inside Passage

The pod worked as a team to dive beneath a school of herring and force the meal towards the surface - making sounds and blowing a stream of bubbles towards the fish.

As they rise the whales swim to the surface with their mouthes open to collect the herring - breaking head first into the air in a practice known as bubble feeding.

The whales made sounds and blew a stream of bubbles towards the fish

Jon said: “I have observed humpbacks repetitively breach 25 or more times over the course of an hour, but most often they breach a few times and then stop.

As they rise the whales swim to the surface with their mouthes open to collect the herring

“The exciting thing about photographing the whales bubble-feeding is that they will feed every five to ten minutes for hours at a time, so they are constantly on the surface.”