The humpback whales will be departing Hawaii again soon for a summer of fattening up in Alaska’s rich feeding grounds of krill, only to come back next winter to give birth and mate and start their cycle all over again. The shallow waters of Hawaii are warm and safe for their newborn. After all the females have given birth the ocean begins to get turbulent from the male competition pods as they chase their potential partners, pushing the other male competitors aggressively out of the way. The competition pods are exiting to watch but most of the action is below water level. I’ve been getting out on the water, on as many whale trips as I possibly can, with my camera and a big lens… before they are all gone… I Still need to plough through lots and lots of photos, but here are a few to start with…
This mother humpback whale was on one side of the zodiac when she slowly submerged like a submarine and glided underneath with her calf, only to surface on the other side shortly after. Then she hunched her back and decided to dive deep, providing my camera with a great tail on view of her fluke as she went down.
Mama, Papa and baby humpback whales. They had circled around for a while before finally grouping tightly together and swam off into the distance.
And below, one of my last shots of the day, almost as if this mother Humpback whale was waving us goodbye…
