In the warm Pacific just off the coast of Maui, a hump whale mother has paired and given birth to her baby. Now, the time has come, whereby she has to take her baby on a 5.500-kilometre-long journey to the grazing grounds off Alaska. The animal has already lost 30% of its weight, but she still has to constantly feed her calf. Their destination is in Alaska's south, where the whale mother will hunt herrings with the other humpback whales. Together, they create so-called air nets and surround the herrings: This is known as bubble net feeding. Orcas go fishing here for herrings, too, but also hunt down whale calves.
Again and again, prior to each bubble net, one can hear the humpback whales singing. This is drowned out only by the sounds of thousands of seagulls that nest in the cliffs close by. Employing various tricks and much to the consternation of the humpback whales, puffins and northern sea lions attempt to benefit from the prey in the bubble net.
In the south of the bay, belugas have arrived at the salmon rivers, in order to hunt salmon. We manage to dive and capture them on camera.
In contrast to the humpbacks, they are extremely tame and enjoy con-tact with humans. A unique cat-and-mouse game begins.
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