Photographer's Note
I participated in whale watching boat tours few times before and to be honest I must say that they were usually quite disappointing. The best I have seen was a whale making a blow or showing a bit of a tail fin. It was never worth it a dedicated trip. I was very skeptical while hearing about such trips on Cape Verde as well. However, they said it is the best time to actually see whales around Cape Verde. They come here to breed between March and May and we were there in the second half of the April. My daughter didn't have a chance to see it before, so we decided to give it a try. There were a variety of boats which did whale watching tours from the Sal Rei harbour. I think we ended up on a medium sized boat with less than 50 people. As Luciano mentioned elsewhere, the Sal Rei harbour is relatively shallow, meaning we were taken in smaller boats to the larger boat in small groups. I think most people didn't have high expectations at all. We managed to get the most comfortable places where we could sit or even lay dawn at the back right side of the boat. We enjoyed that position and we made a joke about people on the other boat which was smaller and on which people were squeezed tightly together. Can you believe they were all standing in anticipation there. We laughed at them a bit. But after a moment we realized why they were standing with their cameras ready to shoot, there was a whale jumping out of the water just behind their boat. And so this is how it started. We have seen several times whales jumping completely out of the water. Instead of doing it at the back right end of the boat, where I was waiting for them with my camera, they always done it at the front left side of the boat, so we have seen them but I could not take a decent photo of it. I just thought that statistically speaking there will be whales soon on my side of the boat jumping out of the water as well. But that didn't happen. I had to leave my comfortable position and holding onto the boat with my legs I tried to take photos over the heads of the people who had great positions at the front left side of the boat. Sadly, because I decided to move to the left side quite late, I didn't have that many opportunities left and I usually just caught the whales when they were already going back down into the water. I have just one shot when a whale jumps out but it is not sharp at all. So here I share the picture of the whale tail fin where it already goes back into the water. Ironically, when the best part of the spectacle started, several people got quite sea sick. My wife estimated that nearly half of the people on the boat were throwing up. I didn't notice that because I was glued to my camera. In the end I think the trip was really amazing. But I would encourage people to do it only in the season. I would be happy to repeat it but my daughter was among those people affected by the high waves, not throwing up yet but getting close to it, so I suppose I will not be able to convince her to do it again anytime soon.
NickVu, Fis2, ricardomattos, jean113, aliabazari, ktanska, PaulVDV, ikeharel, jemaflor, COSTANTINO, macjake, adramad, mcmtanyel ha contrassegnato questa nota come utile
Critiques | Translate
Silvio1953
(221463) 2022-05-06 2:12
Ciao Mariusz, great timing for amazing capture of superb creature, fine details, wonderful natural colors, splendid light and excellent clarity, very well done, my friend, have a good week end, ciao Silvio
pajaran
(115779) 2022-05-06 2:22
Pozdrev.
Lep pogled i jedinstveni trenutak, interesantan i dobar tekst ...
Lep deo kita u plavom moru, dobro pokazano sa lepim bojama, kontrastom i uhvacenim trenutkom.
Imali ste srecu i uspeh da snimite kitov skok.
Dobar rad, lepa fotografija, bravo na ulovljeni trenutak.
Zelim vam sve najbolje za vikend.
Paja
lousat
(139170) 2022-05-06 2:39
Ciao Mariusz,I had been in November and therefore the whales were not there, I had the same experience in Iceland, and I understand that it is not easy to have good photos, even though we were few and on a very large boat, I also photographed the tail and nothing else. Regarding your intention to go to Cuba, do not go there in the summer, it is very hot and it rains almost every day, better in winter, then if you decide for this destination I will be happy to advise you. Have a nice weekend and thanks,Luciano
Fis2
(170639) 2022-05-06 2:49
Czesc Mariusz !
A to ci sztorm u Ciebie!
Znakomity strzal.
Super efekt wody, ale fokus cos nie nadazyl, ostrosc?
Milego dnia.
Krzysztof
ricardomattos
(17460) 2022-05-06 4:51
Hi Mariusz
Fantastica captura com belos detalhes da imansa calda da baleia. Linda foto. Belissimo trabalho.
TFS
Ricardo
jean113
(27819) 2022-05-06 7:27
Quite a story Mariusz, information worth noting if I ever get the chance to go whale watching, but I am not a very good sailor!
This is a wonderful action shot, maybe not the whole whale but we get a good impression of the size and the strength of its movement.
The spray adds to the overall effect. The colours of the sea are beautiful.
Kind regards, Jean.
aliabazari
(22089) 2022-05-06 8:25
Hello Mariusz
Record a good moment of this whale. Good sharpness and lighting. At sea level beautiful waves are formed. Thanks for sharing
ktanska
(44714) 2022-05-06 9:18
Hi Mariusz,
Wow, that is for sure one of those experiences I wish to see some day myself. The whale diving after the powerful jump is so well presented with perfect timing. Short exposure shows the water drops sharply frozen on this quick moment.
Kari
jmdias
(115046) 2022-05-06 9:56
mariusz
it is a fabulous moment so well registered. I saw wales in a very far point when I was visiting the most southern point of africa in capetown. something like this, but I was inside a moving car and at big distance.
excellent view. I guess in brazil the better part of the year to see them are around october.. but I am not sure. who knows I will see them in my next trip. ??
take care
jorge
Tue
(92302) 2022-05-06 11:17
Hello Mariusz,
Fantastic photo of this large and impressive tail of the whale. Your timing was really perfect, before the tail would disappear into the sea again and the splashing water looks great as well. Super shot!
Lars
dedee
(3029) 2022-05-06 11:44
Hi Mariusz
How lucky are you to experience such a sight and also have the opportunity to capture it.
A lovely image.
David
PaulVDV
(62846) 2022-05-06 11:58
Hello Mariusz,
I've never been anywhere where there were whale watching tours. I guess I spent too much time in cities, mountains and deserts :) Not the right habitat for whales, I think.
Anyway, I think it looks very spectacular in this photo.
What I'm wondering right now is how far this whale was from your boat.
It's a pity, of course, that people get sick at the peak of the show.
Was the sea so turbulent? Or maybe the jumping whales caused a lot of swell on the ship.
It would of course also be interesting to mention the places where the whale watching tours were not interesting.
Best regards, Paul
ikeharel
(113241) 2022-05-06 12:22
WOW, Mariusz, what a great capture of the big fish.
I saw a dolphine near me, surprised me while strolled along the Indian river waterfront - but did not managed a picture.
My best regards,
Ike
jemaflor
(147018) 2022-05-06 23:15
Hi Mariusz,
Well taken, perfect timing, impressive tail and dynamic effect, interesting spectacle of the nature even the sea is often rough around these islands ... tfs.
COSTANTINO
(116377) 2022-05-07 22:37
hello my dearest friend and have a nice day
and a happy evening
nice timing for you!!!!
the best result of a boat tours....
no comments.....sometimes one shot
is one thousand words....
regards
cOSTANTINO
macjake
(98402) 2022-05-08 13:44
Hi Mariusz
well that's an interesting story for sure! as i'm reading it I can totally understand and sympathize what you were going through. Just goes to show that often the best thing to do is to have very low expectations...you may get a pleasant surprise. In the end, all and all it worked out...it could have been better, yes, but this is a fun shot for sure. Excellent post, excellent story to go along with it
cheers
Craig
adramad
(72934) 2022-05-12 10:21
Hello Mariusz.
A whole adventure watching the whales, it is not easy to catch them even when you see them, because they are very fast but you finally caught one when it entered the water again, so the experience was not entirely unfortunate, I suppose that the most It would be unpleasant to see people dizzy and vomiting, small boats move a lot.
Sharpness, lighting and color are optimus.
Very well done. I like it
All the best for you. Have a great day.
Luis.
Photo Information
-
Copyright: Mariusz Kamionka (mkamionka)
(74311)
- Genre: Luoghi
- Medium: Colore
- Date Taken: 2022-04-18
- Camera: Canon EOS 90D, Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
- Versione Foto: Versione Originale
- Date Submitted: 2022-05-06 1:05
Discussions
- To PaulVDV: distance, destinations, rough sea (2)
by mkamionka, last updated 2022-05-07 12:17