Once he got the new boat, though, a nice twin-engine, catamaran style Glacier Bay, we were out almost every day, testing the equipment and checking out the wildlife. We’ve been so busy out on the water, that I haven’t had much time to write it all down. Finally, though, I’ve managed to process some great new humpback whales shots and create this blog entry.On Feb. 21, Masa, me, and Steve Drogin were out on the water for a full day of whale watching. I wrote about Steve in my blog called Dinner with Some Giants in the Industry 11/30/07. He’s one of our SeaPics.com photographers, and he has many great images of sharks, rays, monk seals and more on our site. Check them out if you have a chance.
Anyway, Steve was with us, enjoying Masa’s new boat and checking out the humpback whales. The whales were incredible that day, breaching all around us. It was really a photographer’s dream. Most days are not like this, as it’s not possible to predict where and when a whale will breach, so you have to be vigilant and a little lucky to get a great shot. On this day, though, getting the money shot was like rolling over in bed. The light was great and the whales kept breaching over and over, so we could position ourselves perfectly and get the shots we wanted.One of the great things about living in Hawaii is being able to see these amazing humpback whale breaches. If you live on the west coast of the U.S., you may be able to see gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus), but they aren’t known for the breaches and other above water activities performed by the humpbacks (Megaptera novaeangliae).
The playful behavior of humpback whales is well known and has even been mentioned in classic American literature. Herman Melville, using the character Ishmael as his narrator in Moby-Dick, said of the humpbacks that they are "the most gamesome of species and light-hearted of all the whales, making more gay foam and white water than any other."He certainly got that right. Humpbacks must think they’re dolphins, a distant relative, though they’re at least 110 times heavier. They launch themselves out of the water, nearly clearing it, and flop onto the surface, usually on their back or side, creating a minor tsunami for nearby boats. They’re also known for tail slapping, pec slapping, peduncle throws, spy hopping and other behaviors.
Here’s a quick glossary of humpback whale behaviors, with links to images of the behavior on our SeaPics.com site:
breach – the whale launches most of its body out of the water and crashes onto the surface
lunge – a shallow breach where a male lunges aggressively towards a competitor
tail slap – the whale, with its body nearly vertical, facing down, slaps its tail repeatedly onto the surface of the water
pec slap – the whale, lying on its side, slaps its pectoral fin repeatedly against the surface of the water
peduncle throw – a powerful spin move where the whale thrusts its tail and lower body area across the surface of the water, throwing up a big spray
spy hop – the whale, curious about activity above the surface, assumes a vertical position with it’s head and eye above water so it can view the whale watchers!
Why do they do these behaviors? While we can’t interpret each behavior precisely, many of the slapping and lunging behaviors are presumed to be competitive displays by males, used to signal each other as they vie for the attention of females. Breaching, however, is performed by whales of both sexes and all ages, whether they’re alone or with others. It may have the practical use of shaking off barnacles, or it may be that the whales just like the sensation of leaving the water and crashing onto the surface. The image above left is of a peduncle throw.For me, personally, this was one of my best days ever for humpback whale photography. The reason for my confidence is that Steve Drogin lent me his telephoto lens, as he was trying out another one. For the first time, I was able to use an 80-400 vibration reduction lens, which made a huge difference in the kind of shots I could get.
Normally, when I’m out on the boat with Masa, his shots are always so much better than mine. Masa uses a 70-200/2.8 L Canon with a teleconverter, which makes it more than twice as powerful as the lens I own. At the safe distance we must maintain from the whales, his whale shots have always filled the frame and been beautifully in focus, while mine have been way too small. On this day, though, with Steve’s great lens, my shots were nearly filling the frame! The light was great, and the whales breached straight in front of us, over and over. At least on this occasion, my breaching whale shots are good enough to post on my blog. I still can’t compete with the world class photographers I represent at SeaPics.com, but I was really stoked to get some decent shots, as those of you who take photos for enjoyment can readily understand! Thanks, Steve, for the assist!That’s it for now, but I’ll have another blog up soon about more humpback whale excursions. I expect you’ll see that in a week or so.
Kona Sue
http://www.seapics.com
Masa Ushioda’s humpback whale photos at SeaPics.com
All humpback whale photos at SeaPics.com
Wikipedia entry on humpback whales
Links to stock photos of species mentioned in this blog. Please be patient! 10 seconds to load:
humpback whale
gray whale
