Gray whales gone for the winter

Gray Whale spyhopping, Pacific Ocean, Baja California

Canon 1ds Mark III, 24-105mm f4.0L, 1/640 @ f8.0, ISO 320

The gray whale population that spends its summers in Alaska's Bering sea, heads south for the winter where they raise young in the protected regions of the Pacific Ocean along the Baja peninsula. These "nursing grounds" are famous for very up close and personal encounters with the whales, which seem to show as much interest in humans as we do in their peculiar and magnificent presence. Spyhoping is the term used to describe the behaviour in the above photo, where whales stick their long heads out of the water to catch a glimpse of what's going on. This particular whale, repeated the action a handful of times, just feet from the edge of the boat. There is indeed a keen sense of communication going on in these creatures.