Extremely close call with a humpback whale

I had the most incredible humpback whale experience today at Woody Head. Trolled for miles, no luck, then started seeing whales. One appeared close, and I stopped, pulled in the lines and turned on the cameras. It started working masses of krill, moving smoothly around me, every now and then submerging for a moment. Then one time it stayed submerged for longer than usual. Where will it surface I wondered. Right then it appeared right in front of me, breaking the surface a couple of feet from the yak, rolling over and eyeing me off, almost clipping the yak with it's fin and making me think for sure I was going to get a whale tail clipping behind the ear. I didn't, but it was close. Real close. And somehow I managed to keep snapping photos, and I got some rippers. I mean photos of a lifetime. So glad I took my DSLR today. Imagine how nervous I was holding the damned thing though

My Xacti caught the action on video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJWbcA-wabw
Some of the better stills, in sequence...








More photos & full report at Yakabout:
http://yakabout.com.au/home/content/view/1350/1/

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Kayak Fishing Specialist: SLH
https://slhobie.com.au

Josh, fantastic shots, amazing experience! The incredulous look on your face (video) when the whale surfaced right next to you -- priceless Thanks for sharing such a rare and profound event.

BTW, your website looks great and I'm also a huge fan of your fishing and sailing videos!

Glad to hear you got a kick out of it RR... I certainly did
Thanks for the compliments to, I put a fair bit into it. Myself and 3 other islanders are doing an 8-day expedition around Fraser Island in a weeks time, so expect some amazing footage coming from that. More whales, rare humpback dolphins, tiger sharks and big pelagics all likely to be encountered. I can't wait!

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Kayak Fishing Specialist: SLH
https://slhobie.com.au

Hey Y.A.
Thats one whale of a tail tale
Thanks for posting
Kepnutz

Great pics!
Amazing!

Thanks for sharing. That had to be an awesome experience! I am envious!

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