10 Jan Top 10 of 2016: #3 – Breaching Humpbacks
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Top 10 of 2016: #3a – Breathtaking Breach
Images of a Breaching Whale captured during the Marine Mammals trip that I went on in August. On this trip we travelled the BC Coast from the Johnstone Strait to the Northern tip of Vancouver Island. Breathtaking Breach shares the number 3 spot on my list of top images of 2016 because witnessing it was just that – Breathtaking. Jumping for Joy was another image in this same breach sequence.
Why Humpback Whales breach isn’t really well known, but one of the the reasons of why they might do it is to remove barnacles and other parasites on their body. Another reason why they breach might be as a form of communication among other whales and/or boats to let them know where they are (the sound of a breach can be heard for long distances both above and below water). A third reason is that it is fun for them, and just something to do. While I don’t know why this Humpback Whale decided to breach, witnessing it was simply amazing. We were even more fortunate that this was a serial breacher, and it breached more than 10 times (I can’t remember the exact number of times that it breached).
One of the hardest parts about photographing marine mammals is that you can’t often see where they are going below the surface, so you don’t often know where they will come up, so it’s usually a big guessing game.
Top 10 of 2016: #3b – Jumping for Joy
This particular Humpback made our lives quite a bit easier because where it went down was the same general area where it came up and breached, so we were able to be focused on the right spot as it exited the water. Having a camera like the 1dx Mark II or the D5 really prove their worth when shooting a breaching sequence, because of their super fast auto focus coupled with the high frame rate, you can walk away with a number of sharp images.
It’s hard to tell from these photos how large the Humpback Whales are, but they can be 11 meters long and weigh 40,000 kg so to witness them launching out of the water like it’s no big deal is jaw dropping.
If you would like to see more images from the Marine Mammals trip, visit my journeys gallery.
Top 10 of 2016: #3a – Breathtaking Breach
Images of a Breaching Whale captured during the Marine Mammals trip that I went on in August. On this trip we travelled the BC Coast from the Johnstone Strait to the Northern tip of Vancouver Island. Breathtaking Breach shares the number 3 spot on my list of top images of 2016 because witnessing it was just that – Breathtaking. Jumping for Joy was another image in this same breach sequence.
Why Humpback Whales breach isn’t really well known, but one of the the reasons of why they might do it is to remove barnacles and other parasites on their body. Another reason why they breach might be as a form of communication among other whales and/or boats to let them know where they are (the sound of a breach can be heard for long distances both above and below water). A third reason is that it is fun for them, and just something to do. While I don’t know why this Humpback Whale decided to breach, witnessing it was simply amazing. We were even more fortunate that this was a serial breacher, and it breached more than 10 times (I can’t remember the exact number of times that it breached).
One of the hardest parts about photographing marine mammals is that you can’t often see where they are going below the surface, so you don’t often know where they will come up, so it’s usually a big guessing game.
Top 10 of 2016: #3b – Jumping for Joy
This particular Humpback made our lives quite a bit easier because where it went down was the same general area where it came up and breached, so we were able to be focused on the right spot as it exited the water. Having a camera like the 1dx Mark II or the D5 really prove their worth when shooting a breaching sequence, because of their super fast auto focus coupled with the high frame rate, you can walk away with a number of sharp images.
It’s hard to tell from these photos how large the Humpback Whales are, but they can be 11 meters long and weigh 40,000 kg so to witness them launching out of the water like it’s no big deal is jaw dropping.
If you would like to see more images from the Marine Mammals trip, visit my journeys gallery.