I Think They Need a Bigger Boat

Rarely when whale watching do you get a chance to relate the size of the whales to anything known. For the most part, they surface in the middle of a large tract of water where there is nothing to put their size into perspective. Even when they approach a whale watch vessel, it's hard to comprehend their size.
This humpback, Pinball, went on a deep dive right next to a pleasure boat. I would like to add that this particular boater was practicing safe whale watching, engines were off and he didn't move the boat until the whale re-surfaced at a safe distance. This photo shows just how big a humpback is, and this is just the tail!!

 

Humpbacks are really very gentle. I've seen video of people diving with them and they will lift a flipper to keep from hitting the diver. They are very graceful and have a gentle nature. That particular humpback is Pinball, and she has a calf with her this year. The calf, not 6 months old, is already larger than a full grown elephant. They are very aware of their surroundings, 99.9% of whale vs boat collisions are unintentional, at least on the part of the whale as they usually get the worst of the deal. At worst, you might get a little wet if the humpback decides to tail lob or just splash the fluke. You usually have to be acting very aggressive toward them to see that type of behavior. No, I wouldn't want one mad at me, but, I don't poke at pit bulls with sticks, either!