SOUTHERN RIGHT WHALES, NEW ZEALAND, 2007 1189052HC

SOUTHERN RIGHT WHALES, NEW ZEALAND, 2007

Brian Skerry

“The picture is of two Southern Right Whales in the southern Antarctic of New Zealand, in a place called the Auckland Islands. It was one of those days when visibility wasn’t great, so I had the idea to drop down deeper and make a silhouette. This was a male and female, engaged in courtship. They were swimming together and rubbing against each other in this beautiful, dance-like way, even though they are these huge, 45-foot long creatures weighing 70 tons. I had to be very careful. Their tails could have swatted me like a fly. But they’re very aware of when anything else is in the water with them. I also had to be careful with my breathing because the bubbles would have messed the picture up. I had to hold my breath and be very careful as I moved in concert with these behemoths above me. I was all alone in icy-cold water, in a very remote corner of the world, hundreds of miles from any other human being, witnessing something very special.”