A female humpback whale we recognised from last season. She was with a young calf and an escort. She seemed particularly interested in us and repeatedly came to inspect us, often from feet away. These photos are freeze frames taken from HD video with a Gates housing and a 120 degree wide angle dome port

Elsa takes a closer look at Hook as she passes by, her shy calf hiding underneath


Elsa doing her own filming with her HD camera in a Gates housing. Luckily for her, her housing floats. Mine doesn't. Her very first dip into the water and she had a one-a-half hour encounter with this mother, calf and escort. Talk about luck! Some of these freeze frames are from her HD video footage

Elsa staring down at a pair of 'dancers' who swim up to her. They seemed to dance more for our benefit than theirs

For forty-five minutes these two dancers serenaded us. Elsa had her own Magical Whale experience. Leah Crowe has identified this whale as Angus, born in 2004 to Apex and is a Gulf of Maine whale. That would mean that this whale is eight years old and is apparently ready to mate. She was certainly very interested in us, more than the male suitor

A mother, escort and calf leave us as the sun sets

Elsa's reaction when a calf shot up from below to take a good look at her. Did the whales know there was a little person in their midst? Who knows. But it was the best week I have had on the Silver Bank thanks to Captain Gene Flipse and Conscious Breath Adventures. Gratitude also to the Dominican Republic's Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and their foresight in establishing this flourishing Marine Mammal Sanctuary some 25 years ago