Humpback whale (sounding 1)

Megaptera novaeangliae

Port St. Johns, Eastern Cape, South Africa

Nikon F100, Nikon 80 - 400 VR, Provia 400

This is the first of four sequential images showing a humpback whale with its flukes raised as it sounds (dives).

The flukes of a humpback can be up to 5.5 meters (18 feet) in width. They are black on top, but usually white on the dorsal (under) side. Flukes of adults show extensive areas of barnacles, mainly on the dorsal surface.

For me, water cascading off the raised flukes of a sounding whale is one of the most arresting images nature has to offer. Whales in the wild rarely approach this close, so I'm very happy to have taken this series of pictures.