Wetpixel member Darren Rice has posted some stunning footage on humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) from Tonga. It features arial and underwater footage. In his own words:

“I’m lucky enough to live in Tonga where we own a small boutique style dive resort on the island of Foa in the Ha’apai region of the Kingdom of Tonga. Following suit with a lot of underwater filmakers and photographers I was an early adopter of the quadcopter trend that started with the release of the DJI phantom.

I believe that the reason it’s so popular amongst underwater camera operators is because it is very similar, as you are filming in a 3 dimensional space not unlike filming underwater.

I shoot with a Phantom 2 quadcopter set up with FPV and a set of Fatshark goggles so I can frame the whales from the comfort of the boat. My wife Nina drives the boat and spots the phantom for me while I fly. Battery life has improved massively with the advanced lipo technology giving 20-25 minute flights which allows time for the whales to dive and sound.

The quadcopter has served as great tool in collecting scientific data. We collect logs of numbers of whales, numbers of babies and numbers of interactions. In fact, since releasing this video I have been contacted by Tony Wu as the whale featured in the underwater shot 30 seconds into the video is a whale previously recorded by him as having 6 other births in Tongan waters since 1999, making the baby on the video number 7.

Both flying over water and launching and landing from a boat has have their risks.

The whales come here to our warm clear sheltered waters every year between July and November to mate and give birth. Tonga gets around 2000 whales each year and is still one of the best places to swim with these gentle giants. The Tongan government has instituted strict rules to look after the welfare of the Whales and to ensure that everything possible is done in to impact the whales as little as possible. The footage in the video was taken during 2 separate days and over a total of 4 flights. They feature a mother and baby and a mother with baby and escort.

Escorts can be male or female but are not the father or a close relative, instead a passing whale that adopts a protective role and stays with a mother and baby to look out for them . On the second day a the film shows a “heat run” where a group of males chase down and fight for the dominant position behind a female for the opportunity to mate. These battles can rage for hours eventually leaving the strongest male to mate.”