Brilliant Whale Breach

By Rebecca Drew

BREATH-TAKING images show the incredible moment a 30-tonne humpback whale leapt from the water making a splash.

The stunning sequence of action shots show how the whale emerged from the water before gracefully re-entering the water in a crash.

The spectacular images were taken at Kvaløya, Troms, Northern Norway by drilling fluids engineer and professional wildlife photographer Espen Bergersen (36) also from Norway. Espen managed to get less than 230-feet away from the humpback.

“The day I took these images, is actually one of the most memorable days I have as a nature photographer ever,” said Espen.

“They were breaching so close to the boat and were so big, it’s not often that I get goose bumps when I take pictures of nature but this time I did.

“I have spent hundreds of hours at sea trying to capture the behaviour of these magnificent creatures.

“Whales have a lot of interesting behaviours and you never know what they are going to do.

“Pictures of thirty-tonnes of flying humpback whale usually makes an impression on everyone.

“A breaching humpback whale probably creates one of the world’s biggest belly flops.”

It is not known why humpbacks breach the water. Some suggest that they perform the action to remove barnacles and parasites from their skin whilst others suggest they do it simply because the enjoy it.

Espen says he hopes his pictures will encourage people to take care of the planet.

“We have no spare planet and pictures of nature may increase people’s awareness of what we have and what we should take care of.”