Recently I went to South Africa for a wildlife fix and intended to try and get some shots of Whales breaching off the south coast. Hermanus is supposedly the centre of activity for this as the whales gather for breeding and giving birth during September-November each year. We failed to see any activity during a day spent there so a couple of days later we tried again, this time in a small boat from Simon’s Town sailing out into False Bay. Initially we saw a number of Southern Right Whales breaching at a reasonable distance and this was so much better than Hermanus already. As we headed out into the bay we came across a small number of Humpback Whales and they put on a superb show for us as they breached and repeatedly slapped their fins on the water’s surface. Overall there were about 40 breaches witnessed in two and a half hours but this was probably the most difficult thing that I’ve ever tried to photograph. It was impossible to know when or where the whales would surface and how far from the boat they would be. Add to this the boat bobbing and swaying on the water and the exaggeration of this by the longer lens and it was not easy. After each breach there was a nervous look at the viewfinder to see if I got the shot – below are some that I did…
A full report of our Africa trip can be found here.
Steve Proctor 