I am just back from a fishing trip to the Queen Charlottes. Fishing was only fair, but the whale watching was great. This one put on a show for ½ hour. It was one of the most spectacular things I have seen on the water.

WOW! Shot of a lifetime!!!

Seriously impressive. Seeing wildlife like that up close is humbling to say the least.

Hey Dave, nice shots, and I especially like that 4th one down......I saw a vertical breech like that @ Swiftsure a few years ago, but didn't have the camera in my hand....Nice photos....Tom

purdy awesome stuff

Thanks for sharing those, Dave!!!

Best photo of 2012...hands down.

more like best photos of a Humpback(?) EVER...

nice work Dave..

Top Shelf! Thanks Dave.

Whoa! Gotta agree. Best shot I've seen on here for a very long time......possibly ever! Nice work as usual Dave! I think actually being there would have been surreal to say the least!

Was it loud when the whale hits the water?

Damn!

how many whales were there?

In response to several questions. Yes the shock when he hit the water was amazing. I would say we were perhaps 75 yards away. You could feel the concussion from where we were. The noise and the splash were simply awesome. There were lots of whales. We saw as many as 10 at a time . We came very close to hitting an immature humpback that dove in front of us as we were running.I estimate we were within 50 feet of his tail as it went under. One boat had a humpback playing with it for more than 1/2 hour. It kept flapping its fin very near them and actually splashed them several times.

We also saws several orcas. And another group at out lodge saw the orcas eat several sealions.

I will edit this with an orca photo soon.

Okay, here's one of my Orca shots. What I think is great in this one is the anglers seem to be calmly fishing away as the Orcas pass by very closely.

Don't let NOAA see the pictures of orcas approaching fishing boats. That'll destroy all their preconceived notions/science about orcas and recreational anglers.

Outstanding pic.'s Mr. Vedder, thank you for sharing them

Awesome pics DV. Thanks for sharing those.

Damn, Dave!

Amazing shots.

Way cool, Dave! I saw a solitary gray whale breaching like that in a small bay in SE AK last spring, but no close ups. And my photos, er snapshots, are very ho-hum by comparison. You have the knack for getting your camera to tell a story.

Sg

We thought the same thing.

Epic shots Dave! Great work.