Encounters with the Giant Blue
It is a windless day. Not a single breeze dares to disturb this enchanted late afternoon. Like a mercurial liquid, the glare of a lower sun blinds me when I glance over the water surface. It is one of our first journeys in the Sea of Cortez and we are nervous, anxious to see and discover.
Rudder tighten up, engines off, we stop to listen. Only the pure quietness of a still day rises the possibility of us finding a whale if it happens to be in the vicinity. We’ve searched with the binoculars, but haven’t found anything yet.
We’ve been here for a while, awaiting patiently. I am taken by the stillness of the place, hypnotized by the infinite blue of this waters and my imagination telling me what might be hidden beneath. Every slight movement over the water is carefully studied by the corner of my eyes.
And then, unexpectedly, like a volcanic eruption reaping the water apart, an immeasurable amount of air awakes me violently. Florian is nervous and we jump out of our place excited, shaky. It is a blue whale and she is few feet from the boat. Stepping into each other’s feet and hesitant as what to do, we stop for a moment to realize what we are truly contemplating. After few seconds of shock, Florian is finally able to find his camera.
The sun is setting, faster than we are used to. Here in the south the sun sets faster than in nordic lands, where we have spent more time. Running out of light and few minutes to enjoy the sight of a Blue, Florian needs to make fast decisions. A close up of the fluke is a most, but that is the last you will see of a whale before it disappears again.
Florian loves combining the subject within the landscape: the blow from the distance, with the mountains in the background would make a beautiful composition.
When the Blue Whale comes up to the surface to breath, they don’t stay very long, and when they disappear, it is for at least 20 to 30 minutes. We are here because we have seen blues before from the air traveling this waters. Only from that far one can truly appreciate their sheer size. Her body is three or four times longer than our boat. Yet, she gently swims by our boat like if we weren’t there.
I hear the rushing train of the camera, trying to capture this moment that escapes our eyes by the second. After this we will be anchoring at night, but been with a blue whale is worth everything.
I have seen the giant, I could not be happier with such a wonderful end of the day.
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- Shotover Interview
- The Arctic - Offical IMAX Opening Celebration
- America´s Arctic - TV Premiere
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- "Into the Arctic Kingdom"- sold out
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- Give Refuge – Help Florian and Patagonia to help
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- What are you doing in October?
- Florian featured in the NHM coffee-table book - Unforgettable Behaviour
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- ANWR and Florian featured on Audubon Website
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- Patagonia - Interview with Florian Schulz
- The Arctic Refuge Campaign – Featuring Florian Schulz
- Florians new Book / Florians neues Buch
- Florian featured in the 40 Years GEO Magazine
- Florian featured in Terre Sauvage
- Exhibit opening "Grenzenlose Wildnis"
- Florians new Book: The Wild Edge
- 50 Years of Wildlife Photographer of the Year - Florian featured in the NHM coffee-table book
- Nikon D600 ISO Performance
- On Speaking Tour in the US – October
- Ruf der Wildnis – Call of the Wild
- Back from the ice
- Gliding through a frozen world…
- Expanding my work on the Arctic
- Musk Oxen: Sovereings of the Arctic
- F2R – Moving North – Winged Migration
- F2R – Moving North – Ocean wanderers
- Arctic Dreams…
- Mosquito heaven follow-up
- Mosquito heaven
- Grizzly greetings……. Welcome to Wilderness
- Lonely
- Finally up in the air!
- Freedom to Roam featured in Outdoor Photographer
- Canada selling out World Treasures!
- In the Presence of Bears: Waterton-Glacier Peace Park
- GOT PATIENCE ???
- Got patience ??? – 72 hours in a blind!
- Over the Arctic Plains
- Prudhoe Bay – Largest Oilfield in North America
- Flying beyond the Arctic Circle
- Great little Gadget – Nikon GP-1 GPS receiver
- Overflying Alaska in a Wilga, a bush plane!
- Nikon D3x – the DSLR 24.5 mp machine
- What means Wilderness to you?
- Exploring the Western Arctic
- From Baja to Anchorage, what a change!
- The Underwater World of Cabo Pulmo
- Ballerinas of the Sea – Espiritu Santo Island
- Encounters with the Giant Blue
- An icon of hope and survival: The Grey Whale
- "Trust Me" on the water…
- People looking at the Y2Y Exhibit in The Field Museum
- A Trimaran drive through the Baja Peninsula
- Wild Migrations: Surviving the River Crossing
- Horned Guan awarded as Highly Honored under the Endangered Species Category
- Award goes to Florian's Quetzal Panoramic Image
- Conservation Photographer of the Year 2008
- Expeditions in the Alaskan Arctic, Part 1
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