An Alaskan Whale of a Tale

During our recent Alaskan cruise, we stopped in Juneau for a whale watching excursion. The day was rainy, but the water was calm, making for a pleasant trip out into the bay. Everyone kept a close eye on the horizon looking for the telltale blow — the burst of misty air and water vapor that whales force from their blowholes when they surface to breathe. Any sign of a blow could mean a humpback whale nearby, or maybe even an orca.

During our trip we were fortunate enough to encounter three different humpback whales. There were no dramatic breaches that day, but there were plenty of whale tails. As the whales dove beneath the surface, they lifted their massive flukes high into the air before disappearing into the dark water below.

What makes humpback whales especially interesting is that each tail has distinctive markings and patterns, almost like a fingerprint, which researchers use to identify individual whales. The whale featured here is known as Kelp.

To capture these images, I used my Canon R7 paired with the Canon RF 200–800mm lens. The extra reach of that lens was invaluable for photographing whales at a distance and allowed me to capture close-up details even from the moving boat on a rainy Alaskan day.