Well I think this pretty much explains why they call them “humpback” whales.
I’m working on a photo book for the vacation we went on last December (the books seem to take me 6 months to get together) and found this shot. I’d lost track of it. I shot several hundred frames in that short cruise off Maui and this was hidden among several other images I really liked but had missed or forgotten about.
It was mating season when we saw the whales and this guy was in a group of 5 males trying to get the attention of a couple of nearby females. The guide told us how the boys will use barnacles that have attached to their hide to rough up each other in the whale fights. You can see the scratches clearly in this image.
Take time to look through those digital pictures hiding on your hard drive. There are likely some hidden gems that you didn’t see the first time around or that you’ve just plain forgotten about. The point of taking photos is to let people see what you saw and to enjoy it almost as must as you did. Get you photos printed or at least post them for everyone to see!
