How to Photograph a Whale

Posted on by January 17, 2011

Some absolutely wonderful photography and video as photographer Lisa Denning talks about her process of making pictures of humpback whales off the island of Rurutu in French Polynesia.  From Time magazine:



I will admit to being surprised by one comment made by Ms. Denning. She worries that the humpbacks she photographs will be victims of the dreaded Japanese whaling fleet.    The good news is that Japan does not hunt humpback whales. The Japanese hunt almost exclusively the non-endangered Southern minke whale. The bad news is that humpbacks do face very real threats, including from pollution, entrapment in drift nets, ship strikes and the military use of sonar.  We are not likely to do anything meaningful in protecting the endangered species of whales if ignore the real threats to their survival.

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How to Photograph a Whale — 3 Comments

  2. All commercial whaling ended in 1986. The Japanese exploit a loop hole in the moratorium agreement which allows for whaling for “research.” They have been hunting primarily Southern minkes, which are not endangered. There are an estimated 600,000 Southern minkes. The Japanese killed 674 in 2009. (The Japanese announced that they would hunt up to 50 humpbacks in 2007/2008 but backed down after diplomatic protests.)

    The point I was trying to make, and obviously did so badly, was that there are many serious threats to humpback whales. Japanese whaling is pretty far down on that list, if it is on the list at all. We should not lose sight of the real threats to humpbacks, despite all the background noise from vigilantes like the Sea Shepherds.

    The reality TV “Whale Wars” would have us believe that they are doing something important to protect endangered whales, which they are not, any more than the “Real Housewives” of wherever are providing real insight into modern American marriage.