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
After a marathon day with Wyland, the Artist, where we boated, swam and snorkeled all day, followed by an artist's reception at Wyland Galleries in the evening, Wyland was up and ready for more the next day! Wyland is a machine!
Dean's story of why he no longer lives in the Turks & Caicos, and how he ended up in Kona, Hawaii is a little long and personal, so I won't go into detail. I will say, however, that the story involves a stopover in Crete, where sirens sing to you and cure whatever ails you. Enough about that, and on to our adventures with Wyland!
As we headed north, Wyland said he wanted to stop and check out Turtle Pinnacle, one of Kona's better known dive sites. SeaPics.com has many photos of green sea turtles being cleaned by yellow tang and other reef fish, and most of them are from this spot. We have so many of these nice shots that divers visiting Kona tend to think sea turtles are always getting cleaned somewhere, waiting to be photographed. Well, the key to getting these great shots is to be at Turtle Pinnacle, a time-honored cleaning station. If you look for this anywhere else, you'll likely be disappointed.
As we searched the area, we stumbled upon a huge fishing net drifting in the ocean. The net was so large, we couldn't even attempt to retrieve it. Like an iceberg, the tip of it was at the surface, and the rest of it hung down, down, down, fading into the blue.
Finally, we spotted it and Masa dropped a line and caught a mahi mahi right away. When you catch a mahi mahi, it's common to leave the first one on the hook for a while, as strangely, the other mahi mahi will congregate around it. This happened in textbook fashion, and within minutes we had our second mahi mahi.
First, let me give you an introduction to Wyland. His name is Robert Wyland, but he goes by the name of Wyland, the Artist. You know, kind of like how I'm famous as Kona Sue, the Blogger. Only Wyland is known throughout the world for his murals and paintings of marine life, especially of whales. His series of 100 "Whaling Walls" is nearing completion, after which he will tackle a series of 100 monumental sculptures.
The "Whaling Walls" were what made Wyland a household name, as they are iconic artworks for the cities in which they're located. They can be found in the U.S., Canada, Japan, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. His 100th wall in the series will be painted in Beijing, China during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The walls are enormous and decorated with all kinds of marine life, with whales as their main focus. Wyland has featured gray whales, blue whales, humpbacks, orcas and others in an effort to raise environmental awareness and foster affection for whales. The Beijing installment will feature life-size images of the great (balleen) whales, and children from around the world are going to be invited to paint along with Wyland. To see more photos of Wyland's Whaling Walls, go to the 
Large marine mammals are protected in Hawaii, so we're not allowed to approach them too closely, but the pilot whales seemed drawn to Wyland, and they circled him for some great footage. One of the keys to Wyland's success is that he always seems to be where the animals are, and if he's not, they come to him! I'm looking forward to seeing those shots on the 
We finished our boating excursion about 6:00 p.m. Wyland is amazing, because after a full day of swimming, snorkeling and videography from Masa's boat, he still had the energy to take on a full night's work at the Wyland Gallery. He was there by 7:30 p.m. and stayed all evening, painting a whale on canvas in oils, and using a Japanese ink brush to make line drawings of humpback whales for friends and gallery patrons.
The gallery was pretty packed with Wyland fans, gallery clients and quite a few passers-by who just wanted to see what all the noise was about. Wyland would work on the canvas for a while, then put down the brushes to talk to the guests and sign memorabilia. He took photos with anyone who asked and delighted everyone with his friendly personality and casual style.
Steve Drogin is first and foremost, a fantastic photographer, and 
Steve was in town after a visit to Easter Island. Before that, he had been in Costa Rica at Cocos Island, where he actually has a submarine that can take passengers to depths of 1,500 feet. Now many of us dream of having a nice boat to cruise the world, but Steve has his own submarine! Of course, it's a commercial operation, so he doesn't really have unlimited use of it, but still… What undersea photographer wouldn't love to have their own submarine? Anyway, if you are ever interested in going 457 meters deep off the coast of Cocos Island, and you've got about $2,500 to spare for a ticket, then consider the Deep See excursion. Prices actually start at about US $600 for a 100-meter dive. Check out the 
Besides Bob Talbot (center) in this photo, there are some other people of note. Masa, the 
