Whale Quest 2008

In February of 2008, the third annual Whale Quest symposium was held in Kapalua, Maui Hawaii. It was a three-day event organized by Whale Trust and sponsored by National Geographic.

Each day the worlds best nature photographers, movie -makers and researchers gathered to share information, network, debut films, and talk about whales. The event was open to the public, and more than 1000 people attended.

This was my second year participating as an artist, and it was an honor to display my B&W edition of whale portraits in front of the lecture hall and to donate $1,000 to Whale Trust. This NPO does a lot of good, and is run by people who are passionate about what they do.


During the event, I had the chance to hang out with marine photographers Flip Nicklan, Chuck Nicklan, David Doubilet, Paul Nicklan, & Doug Perrine. It was fun sharing stories, and talking about underwater photography.




All the presentations were well attended and informative. Two of them however blew my mind. One was a movie that showed sperm whales taking fish of long line fishing boats, and another was a slide show of the seals in Antarctica hunting penguins.

I would say that this years event was a success, and that a lot of earning took place and money was raised to continue current and start new research projects.

I hope to be invited back next year!

To view a sampling of my fine art whale portraits, click here

Swimming with Humpback Whales

Getting in and out of the water is very important. There are many ways to slide into the water slowly and smoothly creating as little noise and disruption as possible. What works for me is to sit on the side of the boat and lower myself in the water. I tend to favor facing the boat using one hand to support me and then glide into the water.

Once wet, I reach up and grab the camera from the captain, and move off to make room for others to get in or the boat to move away. While in the water, stay as quiet as possible. Big fin kicks that break the surface and create wake are bad and will ruin an encounter. Depending upon style of fin, it might be wise to swim side-ways to keep fin tips underwater.

When swimming always stay together in a group and travel in a parallel course to the whale, and not strait at it. Do not break up and approach whales from opposite sides. Imagine how you would feel if an animal the size of a bus came at you and you d id not know its intentions. The bottom line is that we have to be respectful and patient.

More often than not I have found success by simply floating in the proximity of the whales. There is no doubt that the whales are aware of our presence, so if we stay nearby, but don’t approach it lets the whale relax, but it also awakens the whales curiosity. That’s when good things happen.

Whales are wild animals, and have free will. They can swim wherever they want, as well as dive whenever they want. Please respect them at all times,