I am still alive! No Queen of Spades in sight yet. Great day to tell you about he whale close encounters we had yesterday. Wow! that is all I could say. We will start with a picture taken by Dr. Alejandro Orsi, one of the PI (principal investigator) of the cruise. Here is what people were watching while I was still rolled on my bed:
Humpback whales visiting the Palmer. Picture by Alex Orsi.
Can you imagine them being that close? I woke up and, like every morning, opened the curtains of the little window next to me. I saw six people on deck with no coats taking pictures on a great sunny day with no waves. I knew there was something cool out there, but figured by the time I get dressed whatever that is will be gone. Instead of sprinting like Carl Lewis, silly me, I took a shower. Got dressed and was ready for a nutritious breakfast. Luckily I met Ric, one of the crew members, who told me there where whales out there. 'Still now?' I inquired, 'Oh yes!'. Lucky for me we where at a station and the whales had not left. I ran for my camera and went on deck. This is what I saw.
A couple of humpback whales
The cetaceans had swam far. People around me said 'Boy, you should have seen them when they where next to the boat!', 'you could see the whole body underwater'. Yeah, great. I would lie of I said I was not jealous, but I was also happy for them. Most people went indoors and I stayed out squeezing pictures from the whales that seemed to be leaving. Mary stayed with me and said, 'I am waiting for those two back there', as she pointed towards the stern. 'to meet with these two that are over there' , while pointing towards the bow. 'Slim chance' I thought, as they seemed to be going in opposite ways.
Time for breakfast, I guessed. It also seemed a prime opportunity to get a picture of the Cape Petrels that where flying around. They are gorgeous, with their dorsal side all black with white feathers making a nice pattern. While I was busy taking pictures, the whales that had been far away towards the stern where actually getting closer, and the two that had gone far towards the bow were coming back and, just like Mary predicted, the two groups met in front of us.
One of the humpback whales had white sides with some scratches. Its dorsal fin seems to be damaged
I went crazy shooting pictures. A curious penguin showed up close to the boat, but it was not a penguin day. How soon we forget the amazement and wonders of the first penguin. Alright, I did take a couple of pictures of the little fellow, but I was on a mission!
I would start a new shooting spree with my camera every time I thought they were a bit closer. And they got closer and closer until we could hear not only their blows, but sounds like grunts that came from them. A swarm of photographers came out again and joined the party. Here are some pictures, in case you, like me, wanted to see the whales from a close range.
The rostrum of this one makes it look more like a crocodile than a whale, but the blowing give it away.
A humpback whale surfacing to get some air
You can see part of the rostrum on this other one, as well as the blowhole and the base of the dorsal fin. I am not surprise that the first sailors came up with stories of large marine monsters. They are beautiful.
The humpback whales got very close tot he ship. You can see its rostrum, blowhole, back and base of the dorsal fin.
I have always thought that the fluke (tail) is the prized picture. I have seen many whales before; mostly grey whales in the coastal lagoons of Baja California where I would go camping with my college friends in hopes on getting a free ride on the 10m boats for American tourists. They were too expensive for us. I had seen humpback whales feeding with their 'net bubble technique' on a whale watching boat of the New England Aquarium, but had never taken a good picture of a fluke. How about this one? The whales were so close and I was too excited to reduce the focal length of my 70 mm - 300 mm lens.
A humpback whale in a deep dive showing its fluke. You can even count the barnacles that are attached. A second whale is seen behind.
I got more fluke pictures, some that actually fit in the frame. I am tempted to keep adding pictures here, but I need to stay within the limit of five (or six). Now I realize that the prize picture is when they are breaching, since that is the one I am missing.
Hopefully I will miss the Queen of Spades again and will be here tomorrow writing some more.