Marine wildlife researchers left viewers in awe after posting rare footage captured from a camera temporarily attached to a whale with a suction-cup mount.
“You’ve seen a breach, but have you seen it from the whale’s point of view?” the account for NOAA Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary (@stellwagenbanknms) posted on Instagram, according to Discover Wildlife.
The video shows a humpback whale named Spell swimming underwater before majestically breaking through the surface. The non-invasive suction-cup mount fell off the whale at the end of the breach, per Discover Wildlife.
“While tags can be programmed off for a timed release, they often pop-off due to the whale’s natural behavior, such as breaching,” said NOAA SBNMS, according to Discover Wildlife.
Instagrammers jumped into the comments to express their amazement.
“Wow!” exclaimed one Instagrammer. “I am seeing what I can never see in my life!”
“This is very cool!” added another. “The advancements that have been made to further study ocean life are amazing.”
The fact that the footage was captured relatively near a major U.S. city made it all the more incredible. It also highlighted the interconnectedness between humans and the vast underwater world hiding in plain sight.
“Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, a wild ocean place near an urban world, sits east of Boston, Massachusetts between Cape Ann and Cape Cod,” explained the NOAA website. “Historically important as a fishing ground, New England’s only national marine sanctuary now reigns as a premier whale watching destination and continues to support commercial and recreational fishing.”
The marine sanctuary has served as a compelling example of how human activities such as commercial fishing can coexist with wildlife conservation and environmental protection. By appropriately managing such important natural resources, government agencies like NOAA can even help industry, protecting key ecosystems so that activities like fishing remain sustainable over the long term.
One Instagram commenter summed up this sentiment perfectly and succinctly, writing to NOAA SBNMS, “Love your work!”
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