José Javier Delgado Esteban

Photographer

Humpback Whales of the South Pacific

Location: Spain

Nationality: Spanish

Biography: I am a multi award-winning visual artist, photographer and new media developer. Throughout my early professional life in Spain I developed a strong interest in all aspects of photography, moving image, environmental, space sciences and natural... MORE

A black and white image of a Hu...onga, Polynesia, South Pacific.

A black and white image of a Humpback whale calf diving down after coming up to the surface to breathe while its mother awaits just a few metres below.

Vava'u, Kingdom of Tonga, Polynesia, South Pacific.

A black and white image of a Humpback whale mother helping its playful calf to get some air after a brief interaction with a group of snorkelers.

Vava'u, Kingdom of Tonga, Polynesia, South Pacific.

A black and white image of a Humpback whale calf dives down after coming up to the surface to breathe while its mother gently taps the calf with its huge pectoral fin signalling to get closer to her.

Vava'u, Kingdom of Tonga, Polynesia, South Pacific.

A black and white image of a Humpback whale calf watches me carefully while diving to breathe after spending some time protected by its mother's huge pectoral fin in the South Pacific Archipelago of Vava'u in the Polynesian Kingdom of Tonga.

Vava'u, Kingdom of Tonga, Polynesia, South Pacific.

A black and white image of a Humpback whale calf watching me carefully while diving to breathe after spending some time protected by its mother's huge pectoral fin.

Vava'u, Kingdom of Tonga, Polynesia, South Pacific.

A black and white image of a Humpback whale calf hiding below its mother after a brief playful interaction with a group of snorkelers.

Vava'u, Kingdom of Tonga, Polynesia, South Pacific.

A black and white image of a Humpback whale calf diving down after coming up to the surface to breathe while its mother shows 4 remora fish feeding off the dead skin awaits just a few metres below.

Vava'u, Kingdom of Tonga, Polynesia, South Pacific.

A black and white image of a Humpback whale mother helping its playful calf to get some air after a brief interaction with a group of snorkelers.

Vava'u, Kingdom of Tonga, Polynesia, South Pacific.

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Public Story

Humpback Whales of the South Pacific

Copyright José Javier Delgado Esteban 2023

Updated Apr 2023

Location Kingdom of Tonga

Topics environment [featured]

Summary

In the Summer of 2014, we spent some time in the South Pacific Archipelago of Vava'u in The Kingdom of Tonga documenting the migration of the Humpback whales from the cold food-rich waters of the Antarctic Ocean to the warm shallow waters of Polynesia.

In the Summer of 2014, we spent some time in the South Pacific Archipelago of Vava'u in The Kingdom of Tonga or Friendly Islands as James Cook called them after visiting them extensively in his second voyage of discovery of the South Pacific.

We were documenting the migration of the Humpback whales from the cold food-rich waters of the Antarctic Ocean to the warm shallow waters of Tonga.