THE DAILY WHALE... WITHOUT TURNING ON YOUR COMPUTER!
If you enjoy The Daily Whale, why not grab one of my new Whale Swim wall calendars for 2011?
Featuring 12 spectacular images of humpback whales both above and below the surface, the calendar makes a great gift for yourself... or with our special early release, there's plenty of time to get them in the Christmas mail to friends and family at home or overseas.
The first 20 customers will also receive a free set of 3 whale greeting cards with their order, so click here to visit the shop and order yours today!
It's always amazing to pop your head below the surface and see one whale... but on this day, off-shore at the northern end of Hunga Island, we were lucky to encounter a pod in the clearest water I have seen... all I wished for was a wider lens... five whales was the most I could fit into the one frame!
Southern Humpback pod (Megaptera novaeangliae) off Hunga Island,
Vava'u Group, Kingdom of Tonga
View the location in a larger map
Bringing the terrestrial and marine worlds together in one image is something I like to do... it's always a challenge, even in the shallow, sheltered waters of a coral lagoon.
So in deep open water - even on a calm day - the wind, surface chop and 30 tonnes of whale can sure add to that challenge.
Southern Humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae) near Ovaka Island,
Vava'u Group, Kingdom of Tonga
View the location in a larger map
THE DAILY WHALE
Here's the first of what I hope will be many editions of The Daily Whale, a periodical pick-me-up for anyone with an affinity for the sea.
I've been in the water with bottlenose on a number of occassions (and it's always a blast) but this was the first time I'd seen them underwater unexpectedly. On all previous encounters, I'd first seen the dolphins from a boat then dropped into the water... knowing full-well I may or may not see a dolphin, let alone have everything come together well enough for a photograph. This day however... I was hanging on the surface above Lighthouse Bommie, waiting for manta rays to swim by (if the winds and tides are right, manta rays sometimes call in at Lighthouse to be "cleaned") when on the edge of visibility I made out the shapes of the approaching pod. After spluttering a "dolphins" call to my assitant Jen, I was able to watch as they glided by, acknowledging me with a glimpse and a lazy roll, before disappearing. Wow. They were the last thing I expected to see that day.
Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) passing over Lighthouse Bommie,
Lady Elliot Island Great Barrier Reef, Australia
