Whales are impressive, and not just because they are big.  They have presence. It is easy to get carried away trying to convey what it is like to be in their vicinity, and the resulting words tend to be trite or superficial.

Better to let the camera talk. It sees things unaided human eyes don’t. 

These images fortuitously caught multiple breaches.

And there are some sea lions, too. 

Two humpbacks are cruising along, probably a mother and fast-growing calf. untitled-5052

This detail shows how the water conforms to their skin.

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Close-up view:
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This is what you usually see: lots of flukes, with the distinctive coloration that allows identification of individual whales.  Light reflected from the waves plays brightly on the underside of the right fluke.

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This is what can happen when a humpback breaches suddenly: poor framing. untitled-5141

And this is what can happen, when luck is with you: a breach sequence:

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And the other way:

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Looking around:

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Flukes:

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Final breach:

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Time out to observe the social lives of sea lions:

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The dominant male high on the beach asserts his authority.  131A5420 131A5423 131A5426

And finally, probably inadequate distance was observed between the watchers and the watched. 131A5540