stewsmith 14 Posted August 19, 2009 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/...back-whale.html some very nice images here. Stew Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jonny shaw 16 Posted August 19, 2009 Great shots, I really like the one where the diver is putting his hand towards the flipper of Humpy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scubamoose 0 Posted August 20, 2009 Wow - very nice! The second one is really great! It seems like the whale is almost posing with the snorkeler :-) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MikeVeitch 0 Posted August 20, 2009 i wonder if he will get fined for it? i believe is illegal to swim with whales in Hawaii.. i seem to remember someone being fined from being shown on tv getting attacked by a pilot whale in hawaii and dragged quite deep, then she got a fine afterwards Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stewsmith 14 Posted August 20, 2009 i wonder if he will get fined for it? i believe is illegal to swim with whales in Hawaii.. i seem to remember someone being fined from being shown on tv getting attacked by a pilot whale in hawaii and dragged quite deep, then she got a fine afterwards WOW, I remember the footage myself, but never knew she got a fine. Stew Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RedSeaDiver 0 Posted August 20, 2009 i wonder if he will get fined for it? i believe is illegal to swim with whales in Hawaii.. i seem to remember someone being fined from being shown on tv getting attacked by a pilot whale in hawaii and dragged quite deep, then she got a fine afterwards According to the newspaper article these photos were taken off Hawaii in the South Pacific - maybe it's a different, more laid back Hawaii down here? Certainly they are great photos where ever they were taken! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeremypayne 0 Posted August 20, 2009 i wonder if he will get fined for it? i believe is illegal to swim with whales in Hawaii.. i seem to remember someone being fined from being shown on tv getting attacked by a pilot whale in hawaii and dragged quite deep, then she got a fine afterwards Pretty sure the marine mammal protection act prohibits that kind of interaction - but there are exceptions for 'scientific research' as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hani Amir 0 Posted August 20, 2009 Cool photos. It's kind of amusing how the photographer in the photo is getting more attention for the "great pictures" than the guy who took the actual photos. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
crubie 1 Posted August 20, 2009 Great Shots. I have had the Silver Banks on my to do list for a long time now where I think it is legal to freedive with Humpbacks Has anyone been there ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stewsmith 14 Posted August 20, 2009 Great Shots.I have had the Silver Banks on my to do list for a long time now where I think it is legal to freedive with Humpbacks Has anyone been there ? I'm not sure that is the case. My understanding is that you are allowed into the water with them but are not allowed to swim or free dive. I think possibly that you have to wear a life vest as well but i might be confusing that with somewhere else. Stew PS most of wht i say is wrong so this posting should be no different. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
danielandrewclem 3 Posted August 20, 2009 Pretty sure the marine mammal protection act prohibits that kind of interaction - but there are exceptions for 'scientific research' as well. It's prohibited to approach any humpback whale within 100 yards by any means, and for a mother and calf the limit goes up to 300 yards. (If approaching by aircraft, the limit is 1000 yards.) But things get fuzzy when the whale approaches you. Thus, if you just happen to be swimming or boating along (with u/w camera gear locked and loaded, just by coincidence) and a whale approaches you, you probably won't get into trouble unless someone is watching you the whole time. You could argue, "We were here first, and the whales chose to check us out." Whale watch operators have to toe this line all the time. They spot the whales from a distance and then position the vessel (and kill the engines) so that the whales just happen to pass right by them. But yeah, if these photographers spotted the whales from a distance, motored after them or positioned their boat to be in the whale's path, and then they actively swam over and down to meet the whales, then they're breaking the rules. And even if their boat was approached by curious whales, I don't think that "luck" allows them to then jump in and swim down to the whales. Incidentally, I think the second image is more a stroke of luck in terms of perspective than an actual hand-to-flipper interaction. The diver looks a lot farther away from the whale and the camera in this image than in the first image. (In the first image, the diver is about as long as the flipper, whereas in the second he's much smaller.) It reminds me of the snapshots that people take at Egypt's pyramids or the Taj Mahal, with the finger of the subject "touching" the top of the structure. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
