Philip Hamilton's Image

Philip Hamilton (UK) has a close encounter with a curious southern right whale.

A young southern right whale reached out to make contact with Philip who was photographing under a special permit. ‘It was huge and moving fast,’ Philip recalls.

With cumbersome kit and his support boat keeping a distance, he was wary of the youngster’s ‘game’ becoming too boisterous. ‘It was the first time in more than 15 years of diving with whales that I’ve been touched by one,’ he says.

Quick reactions averted a more dangerous collision and allowed Philip to frame eye contact with his bold subject. Each whale has a unique pattern of callosities on its head and around its eyes, which are white or cream due to infestation with whale lice.

The shallow waters off the Valdés Peninsula in Argentina where Philip encountered this individual are a key calving and nursery ground for southern right whales. Soon, they’d head south to their summer feeding grounds in the krill-rich, subpolar waters around the Antarctic.

Rich in oil, these whales were considered easier to hunt than other whales, as they were slow moving in coastal waters and floated when harpooned. Since hunting ceased in the 1960s, their numbers have recovered from near extinction.