Cetacean photos

Blue whale fluking up (raising its tail) before a dive to forage for krill, Baja California (Mexico).
Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus
Image ID: 03332  

Southern right whale underwater, Eubalaena australis, Argentina.
Species: Southern right whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 35907  

Mating pair of southern right whales underwater (on left). The gray adult whale on the right was formerly a white calf and, while it is not longer white, will remain lighter than normal throughout its life, Eubalaena australis, Argentina.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 35923  

Inquisitive southern right whale underwater, Eubalaena australis, closely approaches cameraman, Argentina.
Species: Southern right whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 35942  

Inquisitive southern right whale underwater, Eubalaena australis, closely approaches cameraman, Argentina.
Species: Southern right whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 35943  

White southern right whale calf underwater, Eubalaena australis. About five per cent of southern right whales are born white due to a condition known as grey morphism and will gradually turn dark as they age. They are not albino (which is a complete lack of pigmentation). Sometimes referred to as "brindled", the white coloration is a recessive genetic trait and only lasts a few months. Typically, but not always, white calves will become much darker as they mature but will still be somewhat lighter than normal even as adults.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38261  

Southern right whale calf underwater, Eubalaena australis.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38288  

Southern right whale underwater, Eubalaena australis, Patagonia.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38367  

Portrait of a Southern Right Whale Underwater, Eubalaena australis.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38387  

Portrait of a Southern Right Whale Underwater, Eubalaena australis. This particular right whale exhibits a beautiful mottled pattern on its sides.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38391  

Portrait of a Southern Right Whale Underwater, Eubalaena australis. This particular right whale exhibits a beautiful mottled pattern on its sides.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38393  

Southern right whale eyeballing the camera up close, Eubalaena australis. Whale lice can be seen clearly in the folds and crevices around the whales eye and lip groove.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38400  

White southern right whale calf underwater, Eubalaena australis. About five per cent of southern right whales are born white due to a condition known as grey morphism and will gradually turn dark as they age. They are not albino (which is a complete lack of pigmentation). Sometimes referred to as "brindled", the white coloration is a recessive genetic trait and only lasts a few months. Typically, but not always, white calves will become much darker as they mature but will still be somewhat lighter than normal even as adults.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38434  

White southern right whale calf underwater, Eubalaena australis. About five per cent of southern right whales are born white due to a condition known as grey morphism and will gradually turn dark as they age. They are not albino (which is a complete lack of pigmentation). Sometimes referred to as "brindled", the white coloration is a recessive genetic trait and only lasts a few months. Typically, but not always, white calves will become much darker as they mature but will still be somewhat lighter than normal even as adults.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38438  

Courting pair of southern right whales underwater, Eubalaena australis. While the posture in this photo isn't quite mating, it is a courting behavior that often precedes mating. The male is below, upside down and trying to access the female belly-to-belly. However, the female does not want to mate, so she has positioned herself upside down at the surface so that the males in the courting group cannot reach her genital slit.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38446  

South Pacific Humpback Whale Underwater, Moorea, French Polynesia.
Species: Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae
Location: Moorea, French Polynesia, France
Image ID: 40662  

Portrait of an adult Southern Right Whale Underwater, Eubalaena australis, hovering over sand bottom on Golfo Nuevo, Peninsula Valdes. By permission of the Government of Argentina, Chubut, permit # 51 / 2025-SsCyA.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 41177  

Southern right whale underwater, Eubalaena australis, in Golfo Nuevo, Peninsula Valdes, Argentina. By permission of the Government of Argentina, Chubut, permit # 51 / 2025-SsCyA.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 41179  

Portrait of Mother and Calf Southern Right Whales Underwater, Eubalaena australis, hovering over sand bottom on Golfo Nuevo, Peninsula Valdes. By permission of the Government of Argentina, Chubut, permit # 51 / 2025-SsCyA.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 41183  

Southern right whale calf underwater, Eubalaena australis. By permission of the Government of Argentina, Chubut, permit # 51 / 2025-SsCyA.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 41184  

Closeup underwater view of a Southern right whale eyeball, Eubalaena australis. Whale lice can be seen clearly in the folds and crevices around the whales eye and lip groove. By permission of the Government of Argentina, Chubut, permit # 51 / 2025-SsCyA.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 41190  

Solitary inquisitive humpback whale underwater near the island of Moorea, French Polynesia.
Species: Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae
Location: Moorea, French Polynesia, France
Image ID: 41333  

Solitary inquisitive humpback whale underwater near the island of Moorea, French Polynesia.
Species: Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae
Location: Tahiti, French Polynesia, France
Image ID: 41334  

Humpback mother and calf swimming together underwater, Moorea Island, French Polynesia.
Species: Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae
Location: Moorea, French Polynesia, France
Image ID: 41341  

Whale hair on the rostrum and chin of a southern right whale, sidelit by the setting sun. These individual hairs provide sensor information to the whale as it swims through ocean currents or touches the ocean bottom.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38331  

Seagull picks skin off a southern right whale, leaving a lesion that may become infected and which scientists have shown to be stressful to young calves.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38333  

Southern right whale raises its fluke tail out of the water prior to diving.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38337  

Southern right whale fluke raised out of the water, tail slapping.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38339  

Southern right whale raises its fluke tail out of the water prior to diving.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38341  

Breaching southern right whale, Eubalaena australis, Patagonia.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38405