Humpback whale (u/w sequence 3)

Megaptera novaeangliae

Port St. Johns, Eastern Cape, South Africa

Fuji S2 Digital in Subal housing, Nikon 12-24 DX (12 mm)

It is impossible to really describe what it's like to swim with a humpback whale. It was certainly one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had in my life.

This whale played with us - I can describe it no other way - for almost an hour. First one snorkeller entered the water, then three more. After about 25 minutes, when the whale remained close to our boat after the first swimmers returned, the rest of us entered the water.

The whale repeatedly approached each of us in the water, coming in for a close look with one huge, intelligent eye; at other times rolling on her (?) back, or thrusting a pectoral flipper into the air. All the time that we were in the water, this whale moved slowly and gently.

We encountered this whale less than 1 km from the shore. The underwater visibility was very poor. This and the other images in this series were taken with an extreme wide-angle lens set at its widest setting (12 mm.) This lens made it possible to capture a wide view of the whale from extremely close, partially overcoming the problem with the poor visibility.

Most of the time, I was so overwhelmed by the experience that I completely forgot that I had a camera in my hands or what it was for. I took very few images - only 12 frames in more than 20 minutes.