Humpback Whales, Kingdom of Tonga #3121

For the past 40 years I have been photographing whales in Alaska but only above the surface. There are almost no Alaska photos of whales under the sea because the underwater visibility is so low, barely 20 to 30  feet deep in the summer whale season. The place to see whales under the sea is in tropical areas where humpback whales go to birth and mate and where visibility can be up to 300 feet. Swimming with whales is mostly banned in the world without government permits, and those are only issued to bona fide researchers. There are three places in the world that allow regular folks to get in the water with humpback whales: the Kingdom of Tonga, Tahiti, and the Dominican Republic. Six weeks ago my wife and I traveled to the Kingdom of Tonga to go swimming with whales for a week. I have never taken an underwater photo before and this is one of the first I have ever taken. Hanging out with these magnificent mammals was a dream come true and my photography was secondary. Thank you for visiting and enjoy – Camera: Olympus Tough TG-5 ©Mark Kelley