whalesWhalesWHALES

off Baja Sur, Sunday, March 29th Sailing north from Puerto San Carlos, Baja Mexico, we prepared to see gray whales in and near Laguna de San Ignacio. It was late March and many of the grays had left for Alaska. Some of the mother calf pairs still remained. Soon they would be gone. In the ship lounge, we had finished a discussion of marine mammals. There could be as many as 8 types seen over the next two weeks. Gray, minke, blue, fin, and humpback baleen whales are probable. Perhaps we will see toothed sperm whales. We will certainly see dolphins and sea lions. A camera session followed. What kind of settings would optimize your chances for good images? Some of these mammals are fast and all are unpredictable. Speed of exposure is key. It will need to be at least 1/1000 second. A depth of field of f8 or11 is desirable. What kind of ISO will that require? Image stabilization if you have it. Tripods are useless; too much movement. The swells on the Pacific had begun to take their toll of people’s stomachs. The queseys had set in. Some people left the dark enclosed lounge for more open spaces. “Blows on the horizon. Half a mile.” The Captain moved towards them. “Minke.” Blows are distinctive. These whales are fast. It was feeding on fish, gulping and moving quickly. Too fast for me to photograph. I got a lot of blue water waves. “There! One o’clock!” On the horizon more than one blow. More than one whale. “Blue?” Set the camera on action or burst shooting. Be sure of the exposure and speed. Soon we were there. More than one blue whale was near the ship. Our ship was 153 feet long. Blues range from 70 to 85 feet. For almost an hour they were about “performing” but not posing. Finally with the light failing and 160 miles to go to anchor, the Captain set off to the north. The dinner tables were less than full. The queseys did not want to feel the swells, and see and smell food at the same time. We sailed north into the swells. It was a bumpy ride that night.