Brisbane underwater photographer Jasmine Carey has won the grand prize in the Hamdan International Photography award with her image of a humpback whale and its two-week old calf off the coast of Tonga. (Source : The Guardian )
Brisbane underwater photographer Jasmine Carey describes here how she captured the shot…. “I grabbed my 5D Mark IV camera, which is encased in waterproof housing and slipped off a small tour boat into the waters of the Vavaʻu Islands in Tonga. Small bubbles breaking on the surface of the water every four minutes showed our group of divers that we were on the right track. It began to rain. It fell rhythmically in a soothing pitter-patter on the water’s surface, gently lulling a large female humpback whale and her calf into a very relaxed and comforting sleep. As we floated and stared into the deep, the sound of the rhythm faded just a little and the ocean calmed just enough for the tranquil pair to rise up, meeting the light rays starting to break through the surface.“
What impresses is just how graceful and gentle the creature (mother) is, despite its huge bulky size.
Some facts : The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is a species of baleen whale. It is one of the larger rorqual species, with adults ranging in length from 12–16 m (39–52 ft) and weighing around 25–30 metric tons (28–33 short tons). The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with long pectoral fins and a knobbly head. It is known for breaching and other distinctive surface behaviors, making it popular with whale watchers.
