Humpback in Gross Sound Photo

Photographer’s Note

This is a third picture from whale watching tour to Gross Sound and a first one with whale.

We sailed on board of catamaran Keet. “Keet” means orca in Tlingit language. There are strict regulations in whale watching in the USA. You can sail near the whale not close than 50 meters and not longer than 30 minutes. It is also prohibited to pursue the animals.

We saw many whales in different distances but one of them was real acrobat. We made numerous shots (all with manual focus — its jumps are nonpredictable) and legal 30 minutes of movie!

Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is baleen whale with very long flippers. The average adult is about 15 meters and weighs as much as 35 tons. Usually they congregate in groups of up to 12 individuals.

The total number in North Pacific is about 2,000 (~10,000 worldwide).

Endangered species. Commercial harvest is prohibited since 1966.

hramat, jjbach, weswang, singuanti has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

jjbach (9111) 2005-07-21 3:12

You caught a great moment. Nice composition with beautiful blue colour tones and perfect lighting. Very well done!

Regrads John

jrj (34779) 2005-07-21 4:19

Interesting shot from the whale safari Nikolay. Well done job, good catch of the jumping whale.
Also up here the whale safaris are discussed. The locals want to have theme as a source of income, while the environment people want to ban them.
Also interesting with the tourists here: Many against catching of whales - still they don't give a damn for disturbing them with all the boat traffic in the whales 'backyard' - all the oohhing and hooing as the whales are to be seen as some circus artists when coming up for air... hmm.. strange world.

weswang (18223) 2005-07-21 11:09

Hi Nikolay, A excellent timing to capture this special scene. The dynamic of the whale coming out from the water is well captured. A beautiful background for the picture as well. Thanks for sharing.

singuanti (15240) 2005-07-21 23:05

Hi Nikolay. You sure nailed this shot with perfect timing! The whale is very well placed in relation to the rest of the composition. I bet it would be fun to have a zoom lens at this moment too. Nice shot Nikolay.

yesterday (9787) 2005-07-26 16:56 [Comment]

Show Comment