Oh, those photos are AMAZING!!! Thank you so much for sharing. This made my day.

Hi Irene, ...Page,
...and I agree, totally awesome photos, and for showing off your technical expertise in that embedded slide show. It made my day too... So very far away, and yet you bring it so near to our hearts. Thanks so much, ...GC

AWESOME PHOTOS! Great slide show.
Photo #4 is pretty interesting. The yellowish-brown pigmentation in an otherwise white tail is caused, I'm told, by diatoms in the whale's diet.
Once the whale leaves this feeding area to travel to warmer climates, the discolouration changes. Also note that Antarctic humpbacks have more white on underbelly that Atlantics and Pacifics - nature's camouflage?
Wish I were there with you.

Great Pictures. I wish I was there seeing those whales LIVE. Thanx for making the slide show.

Yesterday's cam action was some of the most thrilling I've seen on a live cam, and your photos are the icing on the cake. At first I thought they were Minke whales, but it is even more exciting that what we were seeing were Humpbacks! Thanks for everything you do to help the whales.Here are a few grabs from the cam.
Edward Berry, Moderator,
The Nature Cam Commentator

http://tinyurl.com/3c7hk8

Great slide show Irene... Keep up the good work.

James
USA

Hi Irene, i have just visited the Sea Shepherd web site and i found the following... do you know if this info about the Australian Government is true?

Sea Shepherd has now been informed that the Australian government is now working in cooperation with the Japanese government to prevent Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace ships from intercepting the Japanese vessels.

Japan is also receiving assistance from the office of the U.S. Naval Intelligence Civil Maritime Analysis Department (NIMA) which according to the website of the Cetacean Research Institute of Japan is monitoring the movements of Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace ships by Satellite and relaying the coordinates to the Japanese fleet.

The link is; http://www.icrwhale.org/eng/060105Release.pdf

And it reads:

Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace's movements are being monitored by the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence Civil Maritime Analysis Department's worldwide piracy report, which provides information on threat to and criminal action against merchant shipping worldwide. http://pollux.nss.nima.mil/onit/onit_j_main.html

The following was found on the NIMA site at

Irene you are the best for sharing this and now we know some are not harmed. Any clues as to where the whalers are?

Fantastic awe-inspiring photos! Job well done, Esperanza! It has often been said, seeing these whales up close is a transformative experience. To see how cool, objective BBC reporter Johah Fisher reacted when encountering these humpbacks as he travels with the Greenpeace crew and files reports, go to: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7171409.stm and on that page is a link to a video report by him.

wonderful pictures ... what are the birds flying over the humpback on picture-11 ?
Hey, by the way, I would much appreciate a blog detailing the various birds and mammals you have encountered so far - thanks !

These photos are so precious, brings tears to my eyes! Nothing is more breath taking then watching whales in their natural habitat! The icebergs are amazing also.

You sure reached a place on earth where time stands still.

Great blog to see your progress.
Fantastic for you to see the humpbacks.
Goodluck!

wooow O.O ... me quedo sin palabras.. daria lo que fuera por estar ahi observando a esas maravillosas criaturas..

I am still waiting for Insanitori's comments on these beautiful pics, I certainly won't hold my breath, but I can imagine he/she just sees harpoon fodder, a consumptive resource waiting to be rendered into a saleable, edible product.

the photo with the peduncle arch and the berg in the background is an absoulute pearler!

Cath:

The ICR link is to a press release dated 05 JAN 06. The NIMA link in the SSCS messsage is to a report dated 28 FEB 07. Now, this is not to say that US Naval Intell is not helping the Japanese whalers now; but, these reports do not prove that. What the US anti-whaling community needs to do is put pressure on its government to provide the whaling fleets's location to SSCS and GP. Sounds like a great political action project in advance of WhaleKill 2008-09, eh?

JGM

PS: Wonderful photographs. Breathtaking and awe-inspiring.

Hello Cath and JG

Thanks for the comments. It's probably best if you ask Sea Shepherd for more information about the statement on their website.

Cheers
Iréne

WOW! next time take me with you guys!, thank you so much for sharing this, so cute..thanks god they are not going to hunt humpbacks this year, thanks greenpeace!!
xxx from Barcelona
Animos!!!

How special to see these wonderful pictures - we can almost feel as if we are there with you and The Esperanza. Thanks for keeping us involved.

Wow, beautiful! Great shots, you all must have been just ecstatic! My four year old loves it when I log on and show her all the pics of the whales you post. She says she is going to be a whale doctor when she grows up, I can only hope :) Keep up the great work, love you guys! And yea, wish I was there!!!!

Irene and JG, thanks for getting back to me on the subject of the info i saw on the Sea Shepherd web site. I sincerely hope that co-ordinates are not being passed to the Japanese fleet. I feel quite upset and helpless reading all the numerous reports, there seems to be just so much against the success of this campaign and anti-whaling in general. BUT.......there are plenty of us who are praying for success, willing with all our might for the campaign to succeed and for whaling to end. Hopefully good will prevail over this evil practice.

Irene... all the very best to you and the crew, i hope you find the fleet soon. Take care.

WOW! These photos are amazing, SO beautiful. Looks like you got the whole show - breaches, tail flukes, blow... Fantastic stuff. I wish I could have been there! Thanks so much for sharing them.
It's almost as though the whales came to thank you for helping them, and to encourage you to continue on. These photos and the blog from the ship make it really real for us back home, thanks so much you're doing a great job.
Best wishes to all the crew - give the whales our love! We won't give up!
Take care.

loved your photos, you guys rock. wish i was there.give love and white light to the whales they need all the protection they can get.hope you all are well and good luck with your mission.