I saw a large pod of whales heading south off S-Turns and decided to paddle out with the cameras on the chance that I could get near enough for some shots. As it turned out, they were moving quickly and by the time I got out far enough they were already to the south of me and still on the move. I sat out there for a while anyway and probably 10 minutes later I heard blow and saw a calf not to far off heading in my direction. When it blew again and even closer to me, I slipped in the water hoping for a view. The visibility was not that great and I was concerned that they could pass close by and yet unseen. Ultimately I did see the white of a pectoral fin in the haze so I just hung out hoping for a better view. I continued looking in the direction I had seen the fin when I sensed something to the right and behind me. I rotated in the water and saw the mom and calf approaching me from behind and not where I had expected they would be.

I suspect because the visibility was not that great, she elected to come in closer for a better view herself and that was just fine with me!! You can just make out the pectoral fin of the escort and the top of his head below the mother in the image above.

This was a very typical swim by and fortunately the lighting was from a good angle and the dark overcast provided soft illumination. I also had the video running and I have yet to view it as I compose this web page. It is obvious to me that I will not get a well composed and framed shot of the whales unless I am willing to forego the wonderful experience of watching them with eyes wide open and instead view the short encounter through the small view port of the camera with one eye closed. I held the cameras down by my chest and triggered the shutter when I would think to do so but my real concentration was on making eye contact with mom and calf as they checked me out. In this encounter, I could clearly see their eyes and they tracked me as the went by.

The two images below are closer cropped versions of two above. In them you can see the whites of the whale's eyes.

I don't know what the fish are that are often following the whales but in the cropped image below is a pretty clean view of one:

In reviewing a fish book I have, these look like a Leatherback (reach 27" in length).