Sardine Run, Wetpixel Trip

some more pics....

Hi Guys,

Holy shit, that looks the dogs gonads. The pics tell a thousand stories and I think we are all going to book next years trip.

Drew, you were right when you said that quarry filming was in. The picture of that giant breeching pike you sent in was amazing Obviously not as good as my stuff but you cannot have it always...You jacksey git...

Have a safe and fantastc trip lads

Dive safe

DeanB

P.s yeah, wheres the ladies.???

Reposted from my journal:

The ocean is so fickle. Yesterday, the sky was black with Cape gannets, and our zodiac had a twenty-dolphin escort for nearly the entire day (a mere twenty among the hundreds around us). The action was really great as we gunned through the surf out of the valley, but we were not able to actually jump on any of it. Most of the action was in the muddy, no-vis area close to shore, and a nice, stable bait ball we found out in open water dissipated at the moment we finished suited up. All of this action was against the reports we’ve been hearing, but that’s the way it goes. After all, we don’t really care of the main shoal is near; all that matters is that there is good action.

school of bottlenose dolphin plus an oceanic black-tip shark off in the distance(Charcharhinus limbatus)

As is typical, the action thinned out as the morning progressed. We nearly called it a day because of the strength of the wind, but as we moved closer to shore and away from the mouth of the valley (wind tunnel!) we were able to find relatively calm water. We randomly fell off of the boat around some sharks and a pod of dolphins (on snorkel), and after awhile, we happened upon a small humpback whale at the surface. It was just gently bobbing up and down while breathing shallowly.

The whale was not a big one and was probably just under 30' long. He was hanging upside down motionless much like a singer would, except that there was no accompanying song to be heard.

a humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) hangs out

whale tail!

After a few minutes, the whale started to move again. His head swung gracefully upward, and I quickly realized that the guy was on track to come up right under me! I finned away as fast as I could and just managed to get out of the way before turning around to snap some pictures.

oh... hello, mr. whale!

I shot until the oncoming whale filled the frame and then had a random thought. Things usually seem to be further away when looking through the viewfinder while using a wide-angle lens, a fact that we sometimes use to hide from overwhelming action (i.e. a photographer’s version of sticking one’s head in the sand). So when I looked up, I saw this whale’s head right in front of my face. The whale blew and then start to move forward with a bit more enthusiasm. I turned, swam back quickly for 3-4 seconds, and then turned again to shoot another photo. Giles told me that it was at this point that he thought I been hit by the whale.

I also have lots of frames that consist only of surface froth

I can't be certain that the whale wouldn't have just investigated closely before turning away, but when an object this big approaches you, the urge to get out of the way is pretty strong.

whales are cool

After twenty minutes or so, Drew showed up on scuba. Whale promptly left. We’re still giving Drew shit for that one.

Oh yeah -- there were also schools of common dolphin swimming around, but I wasn’t able to get them in the shots.

All images shot with Canon 1Ds Mk II, Seacam housing, Ikelite DS-125 strobes, Sigma 20mm/1.8 lens.

Magnificent!

Awesome! Wow wow. Show us some more.

Alex

Yes, more please.

Todd

nice...

Give Drew shit from us as well.... and call him lazy too...

Awesome shots!!!! Please keep 'em coming!

Spectacular encounter and shots.

Awesome experience and great shots Eric.

I'd also like more...

While Enrique is having blackberry problems, I'll throw in another breach... this one is called slappy the whale, who breached 50+ times in 3 hours.

I'm BACK now. I spliced a travel router into the ADSL line at the B&B I'm staying at in Capetown.

Any Wetpixel folk out in Capetown? I'm going to have a lot of free time after days out on the water with Chris & Monique...

All of those are fantastic, but the last one could be one of the best I've ever seen.

Ballistic missile Megaptera:

PS: Eric, no sniffing in Simonstown?

Ok I'm not going to post much .. just a few pictures to bump this thread as I just got home ..I have rush processed some images (i played with RAW for the first time) and thought I would a few here. I have plenty more to add .. but all in good time .. unfortuately pc power is not at it's tip top in my parents house so I don't feel like processing lots perfectly right now.

pictures coming ...

Say Hi to Chris and Monique for me. I'm still trying to get out and see them sometime.

Cheers

Todd

Giles... that's weak.

Hey Veitch, I got tipped generously for my laziness.

A coupla photos from today (Simonstown and False Bay):

dolphins at dawn

African penguins

Great shots, all! Looks to have been a super trip.

Jett

Fun stuff guys. looks like an unusual experience with fast action!

Jack