Where
There are several destinations around the world where it’s possible to swim legally with humpback Whales, each one has it’s pros and cons so you need to decide which is best for you.
Whilst I have not dived personally at all these locations, I have many friends who have dived their recently and given firsthand details.
Niue, South Pacific Island.
French Polynesia
Tonga
Ningaloo
Humpback Whale Behaviour
Humpback whales migrate annually between feeding and breeding grounds. During summer, they inhabit polar regions like Antarctica, feeding on krill and small fish. In winter, they journey thousands of kilometres to tropical waters, such as Tonga or French Polynesia, to mate and give birth. These migrations are among the longest of any mammal.
When choosing the time of year to visit any of the above destinations, you need to consider what kind of behaviours you would like to witness and obviously it’s not guaranteed, and is only a guide to cycles of the whales.
July-August:
Mating Displays: Male humpbacks engage in songs and competitive group behaviours to attract females.
Courtship: Pairs can be seen interacting closely.
Breaching: Whales leap out of the water, possibly as a display or communication.
August-September:
Calving: Females give birth in sheltered bays. Mothers and calves often surface together, with calves learning essential skills.
Nurturing: Mothers nurse and protect their young, often staying close to the surface.
September-October:
Bonding and Play: Calves grow more active and playful, practicing breaching and tail slapping.
Preparation for Migration: Whales begin building strength for their return journey to feeding grounds.
I visited Niue for 2 weeks in September 2023 and was lucky enough to hear male humpback whales singing and see them attempting to mate with females, whilst competing with other males as well as breaching, and mothers with their calves who were extremely playful.
We were lucky enough to spend a week with the same mother and calf, where the calf would swim right over and play with us like we were one of it’s toys.
How To Get The Shot
Humpback Whales are very rarely just sat on the surface waiting for you to take a nice picture of them, they are mostly moving and very dynamic in the water.
Some of the behaviours you may witness are going to be incredibly fast paced and possibly only give you a few seconds to 30 seconds to allow you to get the shot you want, so being agile in the water, anticipate their moves and have your settings locked in are critically important.
When it comes to second guessing a humpback whales next move as it swims towards you, there’s no hard fast rule: but what you want to make sure is that your actions don’t disturb the whales and ruin the whole experience for yourself and for your group. If your presence is not welcome, then back off and give the whales space: their wellbeing is your most important priority and not chasing them to try and get the shot. I can guarantee that any image you take this way, will not be the one you wanted and won’t be worth it, the images taken on the whales’ terms are always the best ones
Wait pateiently and observe the whales for as long as you can and get a feel for how they are behaving and if they have registered your presence or are they caught up in the moment. During mating, heat runs etc they can be very dangerous situations for you to get involved with and could cause injury for you, and not shot is worth that.
The image below was taken where 3 humpback whales playing/fighting on the surface with each other, displaying behaviours such as breaching, pec and tail slapping on the water as well as nudging each other.
I hung back and watched for a long time, before moving slightly closer at the right moment to capture this image where all 3 humpback whales are looking directly at the camera.
It is undoubtably one of my favourite whale images, firstly because of the composition and secondly because patience (and some luck) it took to get the shot.
Setting Up Your Camera
Your first decision is which lens to go with- whilst some of the encounters I had it would have been great to have a fisheye lens, most of the time encounters were far away so a fisheye would have been way too wide. I went with the Sony 16-35mm GMaster lens, which was perfect for being able to zoom in and out when required.
Shutter Speed- Start off with around 1/320 or 1/400 and adjust if you need to. I shot entirely between this range and found I never had to go any higher despite sometimes having a fast moving baby.
F-Stop- On certain days the light is going to be changing a lot so you need to adjust your camera quickly accordingly- if you have overexposed shots then no amount of post production is going to being back that lost detail. Start off around F8 and dial up or down when required as you don’t want to miss the shot. As I said, the whales could be fast moving so as they move past, you could easily go from shooting with the sun behind you to shooting more towards the sun, or one minute the sun is fully out, the next second a cloud comes over and it’s a lot darker.
ISO- Most cameras are capable of shooting with a high ISO, but as your shots will predominantly be on the surface (depending where in the world you are) I would pick around ISO 400-500 and stay there and focus on adjusting my aperture when needed.
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