The Story Behind the Photo: Whale Breaching over Kayaks

In 2022, I was blessed to take a cruise to Alaska. We had a few shore excursions planned, including in the tiny village of Hoonah, AK. Our excursion ended early and on a whim, I booked a whale watching tour in Hoonah Bay. I had no idea what was in store for us!

We began following a large pod of 8-12 humpback whales as they bubble-fed. This technique involves the pod swimming in ever-smaller circles while blowing bubbles. The bubbles create a constricting wall, which forces fish and krill into a small pile. At a certain point, the pod begins to swim up from below, gorging themselves on high-protein food.

During out tour, a few other operators jumped into the action. Some drew dangerously close to the pod, and our guide called to them on the radio to warn them back. A small kayak tour, however, had no radio. As we watched them draw closer and closer to the feeding pod, both our driver and our marine biologist remarked they were too close. Then, suddenly, this happened:

Whale breaching over kayaks
A humpback whale breaches over three kayakers

As our biologist told us later, the pod noticed how close the kayaks had come, and instructed one of the whales to ‘brush them back’ a bit. Mission accomplished, and message received – loud and clear!

On the boat, a huge gasp erupted from the tourists. I spun in place in the bow, with the shutter activated the entire time. It is a testament to the qualify of OM Systems (formerly Olympus) that I even captured this photograph. I was shooting at the equivalent of over 600mm, yet the image was in focus and relatively crisp.

I couldn’t wait to get back to our cabin, to see if the image actually came out! After agonizing hours of waiting, we made it and sure enough – I had captured several frames of the breach! Not only that, but I found each of the individuals in the image and captured model releases.

Ironically, this image has been rejected from both stock photo as well as some competitions. Reviewers simply cannot believe this is a real image (rather than a photoshopped composite). I know a boat full of whale watchers, and three wiser kayakers can attest, however, that this really did happen.

This image, to-date, has won “Best of Show” at the 2022 Utah State Fair, and will be featured in an upcoming travel magazine. Yet, in spite of its fame and appeal, it’s by no means my favorite image. The day was cloudy. The water is unrecoverable, flat gray. The shoreline is almost without texture or color. There’s no artistic value to the photograph. But at the same time, it is a good photograph. It freezes a moment in time which is so startling, almost no one believes it at first glance.

Some photography is purposeful. Some photography is art. And some photography is being in the right place at the right time!

1 thought on “The Story Behind the Photo: Whale Breaching over Kayaks

  1. Haley Thomas says:

    So well said. Absolutely love that you were able to capture this moment in time! It is breathtakingly full of shock value!

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