Humpback Whale

We saw humpback whales in Alaska on a number of occasions. 

This photo is from Wikipedia. I give it to provide some context for the body parts I was able to photograph. 

Our first exposure was in Kachemak Bay near Homer on our way out to Gull Island. Our pilot spotted a whale and it breached a number of times. I learned that trying to photograph the breaching whales was a real trick, as you have no idea when and where the whale is going to come out of the water. I did get a photo of the enormous splash from the breaching whale and of its tail just before submerging.

This photo captures the tail-end of my most thrilling whale experience. It was a gigantic whale and the splash was enormous. This photo is with a 500 mm lense from quite a distance. 

The tail of the whale in Kachemak Bay.

On our eight hour boat trip into Kenai Fjords National Park, outside Seward, we followed a number of humpback whales. I don't recall that any of them breached, but we did see the spouting water and the roll of their bodies in the water. 

The fin of a humpback whale in Kenai Fjords NP.

A closer view of the fin.

A small spout from a nearby whale.

A good view of the blow-hole.

We saw a few from the Island Princess as we cruised along the coast of Alaska, but none of those views were as good as those mentioned above. I would really like to do some more whale viewing to see if I can get some better pictures.