Today I had an incredible surface encounter with a mother and calf off Airport Beach.
I paddled out and got within 150 yards of the whales. They had been on the surface for 30
minutes prior to my going out. A combination of wind and current brought us closer together
and the whales closed the gap even more before turning their backs on me. They remained
essentially stationary and I continued to drift by them. For quite some time, they chose to stay
very close to me. I didn't paddle at all and would put the camera over board occasionally
to take a photo. The mother was on the surface the whole time and the calf would cavort
around and swim up on the mothers head and then roll off. A few times, I saw its light gray
belly out of the water as it was on its back on mom's head.
Above, I took one shot with the 20 mm wide angle port above the water for reference.
As I drifted past, the mother came back for a close look see of me with her calf on
the other side.