As difficult as it is to believe, I’ve only now finished processing the pictures from Dominican Republic in February. The rest of the week in the Caribbean waters with the whales was pretty much more of the same — go out in the boats and play. Sometimes you followed the whales on the surface of the water as a pack of males chased after a female, the outboard engines of the tender full open, watching the bubble trails the lead male put down to hold back the rest of the males, watching the male whales smack each other and jostle for position. A race where the contestants could beat on each other. Sometimes you got in the water and swam around with the whales.
The closest I got to a whale was when a calf came right at me and turned at the last moment, swinging his tail over my head. We were in the water with a mother and calf when she switched her tail 2 or 3 times and both mother and calf breeched, leaping out of the surface with us right there in the water with them. We were in the water at the end of the day while a male and female spiraled around each other in a courtship dance.
I highly recommend it. It was a good time.
Sleeping adolescent whale about 10 feet below us.
Same whale coming up for breath.
Beat up whale from a rowdy group.
lheringer 