Killers of the Deep

StumblebumStumblebum Registered Users Posts: 8,480 Major grins
edited May 30, 2017 in Wildlife

Around this time of the year, Grey whale calves fatten up and start to migrate towards Alaska and pass through Monterey Bay. Orcas camp out there and prevent some of them from getting to their summer home!

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Comments

  • JAGJAG Super Moderators Posts: 9,088 moderator

    Great captures SB. Numbers 13 and 14 really stand out to me. Kudos!

  • Cygnus StudiosCygnus Studios Registered Users Posts: 2,294 Major grins

    What a great series.

    Steve

    Website
  • CavalierCavalier Registered Users Posts: 3,030 Major grins

    Taz, you hit the mark again. Love all the breaching shots. Can I ask if you were on a boat or were these from the shore?

  • roaddog52roaddog52 Registered Users Posts: 1,323 Major grins

    Really great set Taz!!! What a great, exciting day it must have been.

    Phil

    I don't know where I'm going, but I'm going anyway.

    Luck happens when preparation meets opportunity!
  • StumblebumStumblebum Registered Users Posts: 8,480 Major grins

    Thanks so much Joyce, Steve, Jo and Phil! Can't say that enough!

    Jo, it was from boat....Monterey Bay Whale watch has 8 hour tours that go longer if they find the whales......
    I tried it couple of times after waiting for couple of years to try and hit the spot when chances are max....

    Sometimes they breach straight up but I haven't seen it yet......you are supposed to catch them right after a kill when they celebrate....

    Cheers all!

  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0 Many Grins

    Weel done is a huge understatement. Some of the "close-ups" have an impressive effect, but I have a weakness for the last one - it has a special mood.

  • Cygnus StudiosCygnus Studios Registered Users Posts: 2,294 Major grins

    @Stumblebum said:
    Monterey Bay Whale watch has 8 hour tours that go longer if they find the whales......

    Isn't this a little late in the year? Seems to me that the peak migration was Jan through Mar for the grey's to come up along the coast?

    I know that the Orca's come and go as they please without a dedicated time of year. In the summer, they can be found near the Farallon's pretty regularly. Maybe chasing sharks???

    Steve

    Website
  • RichardRichard Administrators, Vanilla Admin Posts: 19,893 moderator

    Great set, Taz. I think I agree with others who singled out #14, mainly for the color of the sky; oh yeah, and the whale :wink: . I also really like #4 and #12. Well done.

  • StumblebumStumblebum Registered Users Posts: 8,480 Major grins

    @Cygnus Studios yes Steve its late now....mid-May is kind of end of it but you can get lucky

    @Richard Thanks much. Yeah, Dolphin takes it! Cheers!

  • MoonMan04MoonMan04 Registered Users Posts: 69 Big grins
    edited June 3, 2017
    Pictures 4 and 5 are fantastic! I'm Currently in South America which I hope to do some whale watching off the coast of Ecuador!

    Kyle C. Moon
    Portfolio: Moonman.Photography

  • StumblebumStumblebum Registered Users Posts: 8,480 Major grins

    Thanks MoonMan! Hope you score! South America is loaded with opportunities, especially Ecuador! Not just whales.....but they have cloud forest near Quito....chance to photograph all kinds of critters.....they also have condors nearby.

  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,694 moderator

    I like the color in 14, but wish the Orca was a bit earlier in its jump.

    I also like 6 a lot.

    Whales and Orcas are great fun to watch, aren't they?

    Pathfinder - www.pathfinder.smugmug.com

    Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
  • StumblebumStumblebum Registered Users Posts: 8,480 Major grins
    edited June 6, 2017

    Thanks Jim! Yeah, timing is very very hard......you don't know when and where they come out of water.....after studying them for a while I realized that they give one breath....and that lets me know where they are.....and then if they don't change their mind they might remain on that course and come out for another.....and since I am at zoom....I have to guess the area where that might be....less than a second is what we got most of the time. With choppy seas, just staying up straight is a challenge and while you are doing that you have to score in that second.

    The thrill of watching them is indescribable! I learned Orcas communicate with each other for miles away. We were a on a group of them, and all of a sudden whole group took off. The captain stayed with them......and 10 miles later we found there was kill by other Orcas and they came from every direction. They don't fight over food and share. Some feed and rest calmly circle till it is their turn. Very family oriented. Then we had the baby Orca vocalize on the surface coming to check us out and acknowledging us!

    Just impressive creatures......can't wait till next year! Cheers!

  • kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,680 moderator

    Wow, these are amazing, Taz. What an awesome trip you had.

  • StumblebumStumblebum Registered Users Posts: 8,480 Major grins

    Thanks k-dog!

  • BrodyBrody Registered Users Posts: 252 Major grins

    I've never seen this great of a series from one trip - I'd be thrilled if I could just see this one time! Photos would be a plus, but just the memory would be enough. Very well done!

    Travel & Landscape Favorites at JohnBrody.com / Facebook / Blog / JohnBrodyPhotography.com
    ________________________________________________________________________________________________
  • MitchellMitchell Registered Users Posts: 3,503 Major grins

    Great shots! I really like #4

  • JuanoJuano Registered Users Posts: 4,878 Major grins

    Great work Taz

  • joshhuntnmjoshhuntnm Registered Users Posts: 1,924 Major grins
  • shawncshawnc Registered Users Posts: 674 Major grins
    edited March 25, 2021

    Amazing images! Love , 6, 7, 11, 14.
    Number 14 has it for me. Wonderful series, tells a story.

  • black mambablack mamba Registered Users Posts: 8,319 Major grins

    I can't praise this work enough. Stunning performance, my friend. How you pulled this caper off in such rough water is amazing.

    I always wanted to lie naked on a bearskin rug in front of a fireplace. Cracker Barrel didn't take kindly to it.
  • JonaBeth RussellJonaBeth Russell Registered Users Posts: 1,065 Major grins

    These are fantastic, Taz! You really captured the pod life of these majestic sea mammals 😍

  • JuanoJuano Registered Users Posts: 4,878 Major grins

    Well done Taz!

  • David_S85David_S85 Administrators Posts: 13,167 moderator
    edited July 8, 2021

    I just found this thread four years late. :o Fantastic images, especially 14.

    My Smugmug
    "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
  • TonyBrittonTonyBritton Registered Users Posts: 37 Big grins

    What an incredibly rewarding experience this must have been. Superb photos. Congratulations!

    Tony

    "My wife and I make the perfect point-and-shoot photography team. She points and I shoot!"
    https://tonybritton.smugmug.com/

  • spanky117abspanky117ab Registered Users Posts: 263 Major grins

    Wow what an awesome collection of fantastic photos. My guess is you had a grin from ear to ear as you were taking them. Mike

  • JuanoJuano Registered Users Posts: 4,878 Major grins
    edited October 16, 2022

    Fantastic set! Where is this? I agree with others that 14 combines several elements that makes the pic appealing. 13 is great too!

    I realize I had already commented on this, but stumbled on them again and felt compelled.

  • spanky117abspanky117ab Registered Users Posts: 263 Major grins

    Wow what an awesome photoset of these magnificent creatures so very well done.

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