June 28, 2010

…somewhere off Baja California after the Blue whales, continued

June 28 – somewhere in the pacific ocean, off the coast of Baja California.

..the sea was flat calm, it was like oil was poured all over it, smooth and soft rolling waves, no wind, silent…the marine layers start lifting up, blue opening in the sky start to show up and the sun too.

We were on the water now over an hour seating in the Kayaks waiting for the moment of encounter. Three whales already pass by us but too fast to be followed with the kayak. Although we were resting on the surface waiting for the next whale to come by, we were drifting fast with the current and high tide…I was falling a sleep in front of the kayak, I was awaked as I heard the blow, hold and be hold just 100 yards to my left.

Daniel and Leslie (my clients) were closer than me to the whale, I motion to them to move in and to my paddler I motion to take a right a away from the whale path…Daniel went in, and 30 second later Leslie was in the water. Than I saw and felt the first small waves off the head of the whales was pushing hitting our kayak, as it was moving toward me…i decided to slip into the water…it was just under me 30 feet below…I was free diving toward it, taking few images…see attached.

The whale start rising up and I was already at the surface catching my breath. Looking over the water, the whale was turning to its left returning back looking at me – I dived again toward the Blue leveled at 25 feet looked into the deep blue, than the blue emerge looking straight at me…i fumble my fingers over the housing trying to improve my camera setting till i decided to stop and just take the picture…see the image of our exchanging eyes contact…I was elated after three days 12 hours a day on the water, getting in and out of the water, trying again and again…tomorrow is someone else turn to be soooooooooooooooo very, very lucky – but it is only going to happened if you leave your home or office:-)))

Best fishes – Amos Nachoum

• Posted by Amos Nachoum at 2:55PM

June 23, 2010

somewhere off baja, california

Chris & Amos Before Flight 6/22

Blue Whale & 38' Fishing Boat

Chris and I just landed from the scouting trip over the pacific ocean searching for blue whales. It was an easy flight – light wind in the blue sky over 1,000 feet above sea level. We could see into the distance – calm sea, high sun and blue water all around us – in less than one hour we spotted five blue whales peacefully lolling on the surface and moving slowly. Their giant size made them easy to spot – once this 70 – 80 foot long animal breaks the surface it creates a large white and bright spot over the blue ocean which was easily spotted by my trained pilot who has worked for me for the past five years.

We also spotted humpback whales – many pods of dolphins playing around – and others that were creating a bait ball and starting to feed. Over 30 local fishing vessels, sport and commercial were racing to that location. We also saw floating kelp with a few blue sharks around them. Last but not least, we also saw about a dozen Mola Mola resting sideways on the surface as if they were sunbathing!

All of which is very encouraging for my four guests who arrive from across the world – Brazil, Hong Kong, North Carolina and my 13-year-old cousin from Dallas in pursuit of an encounter with the largest wildlife to ever live on our planet – the blue whale – and to capture some extraordinary images.

As a surprise, I ordered a ‘point & shoot’ waterproof camera from B&H for my cousin. Just imagine the stories he is going to share with his friends once he gets home and starts school again! Stay tuned for more from ‘underwater with the blues.’

best – Amos Nachoum

• Posted by Amos Nachoum at 2:18PM