Thar She Blows

Went whale watching in PV.

Chose a tour given in a small Zodiac, which was good for speed and getting in as close as the law allows, but I learned it was not so great for providing any kind of stable base for taking photos. Case in point is the shot here of the humpback calf breaching -- totally out of focus as I was standing up in a boat that was not only on the ocean but was moving forward under power at the time of the shot; as well, the breaching was a gift and it came unpredictably and without any warning as to location... All the fast shutter speed and anti vibration technology couldn't save the shot with that sort of movement.

The back/tail and tail shots are of a young adult male.

What the camera did not capture was the singing of the whales captured by a hydrophone dropped overboard -- perhaps the most amazing thing I've ever heard.

The other great noise on the trip was our guide (a biologist) blowing a whistle and screaming at private boats (such as the one picture in the shot here) to move back to the required distance.