

Massive Pile-Up SW03
$170.00 USD
Floating on the ocean surface, I looked down. Down upon a scene that bordered on the incomprehensible. Directly beneath me were dozens upon dozens of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus), twisting, twirling, bodies entwined, heads bumping, flukes flopping. It was chaos.
With so many whales, you might think that photographing would be easy. Quite the contrary, actually. Making visual sense of compositional anarchy is difficult.
When one of the mature females began to emerge from the cluster, I sensed potential. I descended to meet her. Her fluke came up first. Perhaps she sensed my presence–I’ll never know for sure—but as her fluke came close, the whale rotated, her center of mass acting as a fulcrum. Angular momentum guided her fluke down in one direction as her head rose from the other.
Within seconds, we were face to face. As we gazed at each another, a burst of bubbles appeared from the deep. One of the whales had exhaled!
Perfect. Bodies, bubbles, oil, skin, poop—all the visual elements to represent this sperm whale soirée coalesced into a single frame.
This is a Collector's Edition Print. Each print is numbered and chopped with my logo. Sizes listed are the dimensions of the printed image in inches (see FAQ for equivalent sizes in centimeters). There is an additional white border around the image to allow for framing. A complete list of image and paper sizes can be found in the FAQ.
With so many whales, you might think that photographing would be easy. Quite the contrary, actually. Making visual sense of compositional anarchy is difficult.
When one of the mature females began to emerge from the cluster, I sensed potential. I descended to meet her. Her fluke came up first. Perhaps she sensed my presence–I’ll never know for sure—but as her fluke came close, the whale rotated, her center of mass acting as a fulcrum. Angular momentum guided her fluke down in one direction as her head rose from the other.
Within seconds, we were face to face. As we gazed at each another, a burst of bubbles appeared from the deep. One of the whales had exhaled!
Perfect. Bodies, bubbles, oil, skin, poop—all the visual elements to represent this sperm whale soirée coalesced into a single frame.
This is a Collector's Edition Print. Each print is numbered and chopped with my logo. Sizes listed are the dimensions of the printed image in inches (see FAQ for equivalent sizes in centimeters). There is an additional white border around the image to allow for framing. A complete list of image and paper sizes can be found in the FAQ.