A male humpbacks launches himself onto a competing male to maintain his role as primary escort to a female. The Silver Bank, 80 miles offshore the north coast of Dominican Republic between Turks and Caicos, is the North Atlantic humpbacks' breeding and calving grounds with some 5,000 humpbacks congregating here each winter where the males compete to mate with females


Above, some of the rolicking action we witnessed where 45-foot, 45-ton humpbacks launch themselves at each other to fend off the competition for a female. The power and agressiveness of these animals is awesome to witness and yet these same animals are so gentile and docile when we are in the water with them (not when they are competing!)

Above, a large mother and a tiny calf about two weeks old