I spend a lot of time at the beach and around the coast. Like a lot. I’ll use the time frame of the last 18 months and during this time I have seen whales at the beach three times.
Three.
I would say this is probably about one percent of my visits, probably less. So when I do manage to see one (or however many there is) I try to pounce. So far this year we have spotted and captured two Southern Right Whales about 1.8km off of Muriwai and a pod of Orca at Waiwera. I feel if I spent more time out on boats I would probably see more but I’ll stick to the examples I have.
Here is a clip I recently threw up on Instagram and had some great feedback so here it is on YouTube, forever!
All I will say is that GoPros with a floaty backpack attached point straight down when floating. This was actually shot mid last year on a Friday afternoon. A friend coming running around home and said there was a whale in the bay which very quickly changed my plans for the rest of the day. Here’s the resulting drone video
Shooting whales can be a sensitive topic. Hell even putting the words “shooting” and “whales” together can be a sensitive topic.
The plan is to one day be able to shoot them from in the water which will happen. I could just be waiting a while.
See you at the beach!
-Sam