close encounter with a humpback whale

[Matt P]

Hard to know how close these two were to death-by-whale from that distance, but eek

[Shewie]

I think my drysuit would need a whole new level of cleaning after that one

[john.ruston]

Is this the same folk (Monteray Bay) ..
as interviewed on Radio 4 yesterday evening - works for BBC Natural History Unit. Quote "Was minding my own business when this thing came out of nowhere ... ". Nasty ill-mannered beast !

[rockhopper]

How nice that the chap seems more concerned that he got it on video than the welfare of the people in the kayak.

Rog.

[Chris Bolton]

One of the people in the kayak was a wildlife photographer. He became fascinated by why the whale breached and whether it meant to hit the kayak - the story of his investigation has just been broadcast on BBC2 Natural world - it's on iPlayer here. Lots of interesting footage and discussion about whales.

[Jonathan.]

I watched the BBC’s Natural History programme and thought it stunning. Photography was terrific and so, too, were the interviews with the quirky and likeable experts who shared their knowledge, knowledge often gleaned from new technology such as drones.

The saddest part was seeing whales casually killed and maimed by human equipment - ships, fishing gear and so on. Despite that and despite whaling driving some species close to extinction, the film made a strong case for the creatures behaving altruistically and setting out to avoid injuring humans. Playbacks of the video of the humpback breaching above the kayakers show it twists in mid-air, probably to avoid them.

Extraordinary.

[Jonathan.]

I watched the BBC’s programme and thought it stunning. Photography was terrific and so, too, were the interviews with the quirky and likeable experts who shared their knowledge of whales, knowledge often gleaned from new technology such as drones.

The saddest part was seeing whales casually killed and maimed by human equipment - ships, fishing gear and so on. Despite that and despite whaling driving some species close to extinction, the film made a strong case for the creatures behaving altruistically and setting out to avoid injuring humans. Playbacks of the video of the humpback breaching above the kayakers show it twists in mid-air, probably to avoid them.

Extraordinary.

[Boatsie]

Marine life is amazing. I attempted to watch the documentary but failed. Last night a documentary of Australian waters was on the television.
375 species of sharks on planet yet only 3 species concern that of human attacks and shark attacks are fairly rare anyway. It showed many species of wildlife; birds, sea lions, fish, crabs, stingrays, etc including a 32 year old white hump back whale that often migrates from Antarctica to northern Australia. Now there are many more white albino humpback whales thought to be his children.
As sea kayakers, we know the fun of using the oceans momentum to play upon. They're know different because they live in the ocean hence their knowledge of entertainment with large momentum is greater than ours.
What surprised me was an airborne drone showing the movement of a sardine school. A really big school of sardine, boogie boarders upon such waiting to surf some waves, birds hitting from above and a lot of Dusky sharks (up to 4 metres with length) continually herding the school of sardine into the shallows. A massive killing zone.
I believe you Jonathan regarding the avoidance to harm humans. I extend this belief to many other species too. They have entertainment, they have food, they have a life. Ever noticed shark attacks on boats is often the outboard? The stink bit. As if the sharks willing to self hurt to display that that bit hurts them.
Noting.. Sometimes we are food and I don't forget that.

Awesome whale video, I guess he likes the wildlife photographer. He could have squashed him but his coordination didn't. To me it certainly looks like love bro