A couple of years ago, I went on a 10-day Baja (Mexico) boat trip that was simply outstanding. One of the highlights was seeing the incredibly acrobatic humpback whales of the southern Baja region. When we reached this area (near Cabo San Lucas), we ran upon a pod of ~12 Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) that began breaching, tail lobbing, and fin slapping, non-stop, for well over 30 minutes. With so many of them, there was barely a second that there wasn’t at least one whale out of the water! I have seen breaching Humpbacks and Orcas before, but nothing like the display we witnessed that day in Baja!
The images were extremely difficult to get of these magnificent creatures. When we found them, the water was very rough and it was a major job just to stand still, let alone trying to “pan” with the movements of both the boat and the whales! And when we left the whales, the boat’s captain explained to us that the water was getting to be “unsafe” for our 100-foot boat. Nevertheless, this has got to be one of the grandest experiences I have ever witnessed with marine animals … hope you also enjoy their performance!
Hope you enjoyed the Baja Humpbacks. I enjoyed them so much that I have just scheduled a return trip to Baja in 2013!
Posted by Jim Braswell of Show-Me Nature Photography
Jim Braswell
Jim is a professional nature photographer, specializing in capturing wildlife behaviors and prairie wildflowers. Much of his local photography is shot from a kayak or on local, native prairies. He is a member of NANPA, the Great Plains Nature Photographers, the Missouri Prairie Foundation and is a Master Gardener. Jim is a photography and Photoshop teacher in his local high school's career center. Most recently, Jim has begun showcasing his work at Art Festivals around the Midwest. You can see more of Jims work at www.showmenaturephotography.com
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