QIPOQQAQ
Something intensely magical and grounding happened during my most recent trip to the Ilulissat Icefjord (Disko Bay) in West-Greenland. My group and I chartered a private boat, primarily focusing on photographing the icebergs in the Icefjord and it's surrounding areas. Our captain, Arne, asked me if I wanted to check out this one particular spot where there's been numerous humpback whale sightings in the last few weeks. I kinda hesitantly accepted his proposal, but my expectations were low as my previous whale photography attempts have been disappointing.
After a smooth fifteen minute ride southeast, we arrived at the spot.
Out of nowhere, a family of three decides to say hello. They surrounded our boat and were very playful and seemingly curious. I asked the captain to shut the engine off so that we could possibly hear them communicate with each other, and this is when the magic happened. As the captain shut off the engine, he decided to play a Inuit hymn/chant over the boats speaker system. The humpbacks came closer and closer and gave clear signals of being comfortable with the situation. The baby calf was the most energetic of them all and kept splashing his tail (flukes) in the water and waving it around. It's parents kept us at safe distance while seemingly guarding their calf - hearing them communicate and the deep, rumbling and almost vibrato growls just before diving down again was an amazing experience and I can only compare it to a faraway thunderstorms. They kept it up for almost two hours before disappearing into the deep abyss.
Thank you Mother Earth for this once in a lifetime experience. Left feeling very privileged.
A series of images by Stian Klo
WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
Something intensely magical and grounding happened during my most recent trip to the Ilulissat Icefjord (Disko Bay) in West-Greenland. My group and I chartered a private boat, primarily focusing on photographing the icebergs in the Icefjord and it's surrounding areas. Our captain, Arne, asked me if I wanted to check out this one particular spot where there's been numerous humpback whale sightings in the last few weeks. I kinda hesitantly accepted his proposal, but my expectations were low as my previous whale photography attempts have been disappointing.
After a smooth fifteen minute ride southeast, we arrived at the spot.
Out of nowhere, a family of three decides to say hello. They surrounded our boat and were very playful and seemingly curious. I asked the captain to shut the engine off so that we could possibly hear them communicate with each other, and this is when the magic happened. As the captain shut off the engine, he decided to play a Inuit hymn/chant over the boats speaker system. The humpbacks came closer and closer and gave clear signals of being comfortable with the situation. The baby calf was the most energetic of them all and kept splashing his tail (flukes) in the water and waving it around. It's parents kept us at safe distance while seemingly guarding their calf - hearing them communicate and the deep, rumbling and almost vibrato growls just before diving down again was an amazing experience and I can only compare it to a faraway thunderstorms. They kept it up for almost two hours before disappearing into the deep abyss.
Thank you Mother Earth for this once in a lifetime experience. Left feeling very privileged.
A series of images by Stian Klo
WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
