During the rare sighting, a wildlife photographer captured shots of Omura’s whales feeding, including a mother and baby.
A marine biologist was astounded when he came across elusive Omura’s whales – including a mum and her baby – feeding in Raja Ampat, Indonesia.
“This season there seemed to be an abundance of tropical krill in the region and we encountered these whales in a few locations around West Papua, which is one of the best places in the world to see this rare species,” says underwater photographer Ollie Clarke of his encounter, which he shared on Instagram.
Such a sighting is rare. “Omura's whales are one of the most elusive species of baleen whale, spending most of their lives in the tropics and only formally identified as a species in 2003,” Clarke explains. Before then, these 12-metre whales were believed to be a diminutive type of Bryde’s whale.
While Clarke watched these huge mammals feeding, he also observed some unusual behaviours. At one point, several giant manta rays appeared to join the Omura’s whales in a feeding frenzy.
He was also surprised to see how quickly they could move. “I recorded them travelling really fast,” he says, “keeping pace with the drone at about 40mph which could be a record for whales, but [is] hard to prove for such a short video.”
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