Whale Tail Slapping – Note Card 937

I moved to Juneau in the summer of 1979.  The following summer, I found myself photographing whales in a skiff off Point Adolphus in Icy Strait.  Before this time, I had not really ever seen a whale. When the whale in this image showed up it started slapping its tail.  I slowly moved in to capture the behavior.  By the time I got near enough for a shot the whale had been tail slapping for at least ten minutes.  With each successive slap, the whale kept picking up more and more water until it had a waterfall cascading off its tail.  I was able to shoot a few shots and then everything stopped.  I thought to myself that I would see this behavior again.  Well…34 years later and hundreds of whale photographic adventures, I have never seen anything like it again. Mark