Dive, dive, dive! Humpback whale breaches in front of stunned submarine crew off of South Africa
- The fully grown whale breached out of the waters near a naval base at Simon’s Town, in South Africa
- It was caught on camera breaching alongside the navy’s SAS Manthatisi
- The whale was one of large pod swimming in the waters near Cape Town
The captain and crew of this submarine got a shock as it left its naval base when a giant humpback whale showed its interest by spectacularly breaching right in front of it.
The submarine had been sailing out of South Africa’s naval base at Simon’s Town near Cape Town and had to navigate through a pod of the humpbacks when one leaped into view.
The majestic image of the 30-tonne fully grown 16m whale was caught on film by keen photographer Tracy-Lee Wise.
The 30-tonne fully whale shows off its majestic beauty as it breaches next to the 62m Heroine Class attack submarine SAS Manthatisi that was sailing out of South Africa’s naval base
Photographer, Tracy-Lee Wise, had waited 15 minutes before the whale breached and captured the rare moment in three golden snaps
Her resulting three shots show the mammal in full breach alongside the 62m Heroine Class attack submarine SAS Manthatisi of the South African Navy.
Ms Wise who spends most days on the beach snapping the mammals had lined up her lens for where she knew the whale was hoping that it would breach from the sea.
After a patient 15 minute wait the leviathan finally exploded from the deep and the keen photographer clicked three times – just as the submarine sailed into view.
Ms Wise said: ‘It was a once in a lifetime pic snapping a whale in mid-air as a submarine heads straight towards it and I was delighted to have captured the image.
The submarine had been navigating through a large pod of humpback whales when one breached in front of it
‘I had been stalking the whales all day and was close to giving up but suddenly it all came together beautifully and I was just very lucky to be in the right place at the right time.’
Three of the German-built submarines in the South African Navy are based at Simon’s Town and the humpback whales are a regular sight off the base at this time of year – but rarely photographed together.
Ms Wise said she planned to give the crew a framed momento of the rare moment she captured
‘I had a very nice message on my Facebook from the wife of a crew member on the sub who had sent the photographs to her husband who showed the delighted captain.
‘I am planning to send a copy to them when they return to base to frame and hang in the submarine.’
Three of the German built submarines are based at Simon’s Town and the humpback whales are a regular sight off the base at this time of year – but they are rarely photographed together