Friday Photo #175 – Andenes Whale Watching

Photo: Whale watching, Andenes, Vesterålen, Norway. May 3, 2016. 19:30

Prior to the other week, I had only seen Andenes from the sea while on a sailing trip to Lofoten in 2014. So when the opportunity came up for me to go do some whale watching with Sea Safari Andenes, I hopped in the van and began the 5 hour drive north from Lofoten – It may look close on a map, but it is quite a ways up there!

I will be guiding a couple Lofoten and Andenes whale watching tours next year – some spots are still available for the January 2017 Muench Workshops tour – so I wanted to see what it was all about first.

Whales are in the area of Andenes year round, however in January and February there can be a bit more action when the killer whales are present. In the spring, it was Sperm whales, diving deep for squid a few kilometers off the coast. Despite what looked to me like a basically flat and open ocean, Marten, the guide, was able to find the first whale within about 20 minutes. And then several more were spotted in the following hours. The RIB boats are fast, and pretty fun in general, but also provide a good, low vantage point of the whale, helping to separate them from the sea as in this photo.

As I am not much of a wildlife photographer, the longest lens I have is a 79-200mm. And this image is a crop from that. I think a 200-400 would have been ideal for the trip I was on, though that won’t be in my budget anytime soon, unfortunately. However, for next winter, I’m hoping 200mm will be long enough for the faster and more active killer whales.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 70-200mm f/4
200mm
ISO 200
f 4.5
1/1600 second
WB Daylight