2024 - Trip 2

Below is the email I sent out on an update from Trip 4.

About “Upper Sea”
2.5 years ago, I set out to photograph all 19 cetacean species underwater. Currently, I'm at 3 out of 19: orca, humpback, and the magnificent blue whale.

I decided to name this project “Upper Sea”, a literal translation of my hometown's name, Shanghai (上海). I thought it was a fitting and poetic reference to the upper pelagic zone, where I’d be encountering and documenting these whales.

For more frequent updates, you can find me on Instagram @findingcetaceans. All the photos and trip updates are also on my website.

Hope you enjoy this update :)

Trip 4: 2024 November

In November, I set out to photograph Bryde’s Whale, my 4th whale species. To do this, I went to see a mass sardine migration. After an 10 hour flight followed by 5 hours of driving, I got to a very remote fishing village. Next morning at 5:30am, we set out to the sea.

Day 1

I thought I was experienced in sketchy ocean conditions, but sardine migration was something else. The water was filled with 10 ft long marlins looking to eat. Sardines wanted to hide behind me, so I had to constantly swim away to not become marlin bait

When I was taking a photo, a marlin darted past my head and missed me by inches. Another photographer got a panic attack and had to be evacuated lol.

Despite the chaos, the privilege to witness the hunt is incredible. I watched groups of marlins and sea lions masterfully corral sardines into ever shifting dynamic balls. It looked like magic. 

Since this is a fishing town, there are regulations on how many marlins can be fished a day. However, we ran into American tourists who were game-fishing marlins (absolute assholes who would fish right on top of us). To get around the rules, they would catch and release up to 200+ marlins a day. While catch and release is fine for the little fishes, the mortality rate for big fish is as high as 40%. Locals have sadly seen the marlin population becoming affected but the gov't has yet to do anything (surprise). Yet, this is just a tiny representation of the prevalent issues found in our modern day fishing economy (see a good intro video here).

Day 2

Another day with sardines but no Bryde whale yet. A very notable highlight of the day was my encounter with the ever so curious and kinky pacific white sided dolphins.

They were so curious about humans and kept swimming at me from all directions. I twirled and made dolphin sounds as I dove. And I knew they were getting excited because they started making clicking noises frantically. A dolphin's penis even came out. It felt like I was performing in some freaky Sea World, and dolphins are the spectators.  

Day 3

Despite not seeing sardines for 6 hours, the company was great though. The ocean always attracts weirdos and bonds them too. 

All in a sudden, I hear a familiar guttural exhalation. There was a pod of 3 humpbacks resting in the water. One was a tiny calf with its mum, and the third a male who was accompanying mum and calf on their migration to the breeding grounds for safety (and hopefully get to mate with the mum once they arrive).

We observed them for a good 45 minutes and made sure they felt comfortable in our presence before slipping in. 

I was met by the giant male 10 meters below me. As he drifted past, he tilted his body up and sized me up with its eye. Then, we made eye contact. The consciousness behind his eyes was evident, and I was taken aback by how profound and emotional it felt to be recognized by an intelligent being so much larger than I, living in a separate world. It wasn’t until he broke away that I realised mum and calf were also there, swimming off into the distance.

Final day

As soon as we got out, we saw flocks of pelicans and water coming from blow holes. There's a Bryde whale feeding on sardines! Our captain exclaimed.
I got all my stuff ready in less than 20 seconds and jumped in. Gross visibility, so I tried diving deeper to see if I could spot any whales, secretly hoping it would and wouldn't swallow me out of the blue because of poor visibility.

In a matter of 10 seconds, I saw this sleek bullet shaped giant glide next to me. And as quietly as it came, it faded into the distance.

Despite having seen countless videos and photos of Bryde whales, this one appeared different in person. It felt sleepy, chubby and approachable, like a ginormous friend that you hadn't seen in a while.   

When I surfaced, the captain told me to get back on the boat. “There are no more sardines here. You must have seen it take off with a full belly of fish”. He laughed.

Did I photograph my 4th whale species? Definitely. Do I need to see it again and photograph it properly? Absolutely.

A bittersweet ending

On our way back, we ran into a lone orca. Unfortunately, there was a boat of photographers aggressively chasing the orca, just so they could jump into the water and photograph them. I detest photographers like this.

Even worse, it turns out the guy who was running this boat was a very famous underwater wildlife photographer that I had admired. “Everyone knows him to be a huge unethical dick and does all sorts of unethical things just to get the photo”. Our captain told us.

I felt disgusted. He may have started photographing the ocean because he loved it, but greed and ego have evidently taken over. It’s a sad reminder that even pro bono fields like ocean conservation are not immune to the shadowy aspects of human nature, even perhaps, amplify them. I learned from the cap that they had been trying to get regulations in place for 10 years to prevent this from happening. No avail yet.

We decided to leave the orca alone and head back. It felt extremely bittersweet - getting to witness how pure our ocean is and seeing the age old tale between good and evil. As I mulled on this, I saw an orca leapt out of the water Free Willy style in the distance.

It was surreal - it felt like it was the ocean's way of saying thank you and reminding me to not give up. It felt kismet. 

What’s next?

I’m excited to be embarking on an off-the-books adventure this summer where I will be seeking out to photograph my 5th whale species. I honestly have no idea how it’s going to go, but known elements never make an adventure.

Currently, I’m spending most of my time working out trip logistics, equipment stuff, getting proficient in dry suit diving, and learning local cultural contexts to help me with this documentary project. And I can’t wait to share more with you later this summer!

Until next time,

V