Swimming with Sperm Whales

Words & Photography Gaelin Rosenwaks

01

Diving next to a sperm whale is both humbling and exhilarating. Humbling to know that my ability to hold my breath for four minutes pales in comparison to her 45 minutes and exhilarating to look into the eye of an ocean animal with the largest brain on the planet. One can only begin to imagine what they are thinking about.

Coming eye-to-eye with Sperm Whales in their native environment will take your breath away.

I was two years old the first time I looked into the eye of a sperm whale. He was nicknamed Physty, short for Physeter macrocephalus. He had fallen ill and was stranded on a beach on Long Island, close to where I was living at the time. While Physty was in captivity, veterinarians figured out that he had pneumonia and fed him antibiotic-laced squid to help him get well. Nine days later, Physty was strong enough to be released back into the wild to roam the ocean.

Fast forward roughly four decades.

After working on ocean projects around the world, I began to wonder where Physty would be today and decided it was time to travel to Dominica to reconnect with the whales that captured my heart as a toddler.

It’s a privilege to spend days in the water with them, to photograph and film them, getting a glimpse into their world.

02

I made this image during a 25-minute mind-melding encounter. The playful female pirouetted, opened her mouth, and “clicked” on me. It was an incredible encounter with this highly intelligent animal. It felt like I was having a conversation with her without speaking a word.

03

In one of my favorite encounters, I found myself locked in a gaze with a pregnant female for over 25 minutes. She seemed to welcome me into her world, clicking on me, sizing me up, and never letting me out of her sight. At one point, she went entirely vertical, closed her eyes, and took a nap right next to me. She then opened her eyes, did a gentle twirl, and began swimming slowly again.

04

A mother and baby sperm whale swim side by side in the waters of Dominica. It is absolutely incredible to witness the bond between the whales and how they work together to take care of their young and each other.

05

After gently slipping into the water, not knowing what I would find, I came upon three sleeping whales. Sperm whales are unique in that they sleep vertically.

06

Keeping up with the whales while trying to make a beautiful image is not an easy job. My camera system weighs about 35 pounds; fortunately it is neutrally buoyant in the water, but it still has a lot of drag while swimming.

07

One-third of the body of the sperm whale is their enormous head, which houses their brain, the largest of any animal on earth, and their sound-making and -receiving organ. They use sound to communicate with one another and use sonar to learn about their environment and find prey in the dark depths where they hunt.

08

I spent 45 minutes “babysitting” this playful baby whale while his mother hunted. As I entered the water, I saw the mother and baby whale together, but the mother dove and the baby turned towards our boat, came over, and played with us while his mom hunted. The babies are unable to dive to the depths of the adults. While usually the mom would leave the baby with an older sibling, cousin, or another adult, she decided we would suffice as babysitters! The whale was playful and reminded me of a puppy.

09

I came upon this aggregation of whales late in the afternoon one day. We saw a few whales on the surface socializing, but what we encountered was so much more. As I slowly swam towards the few whales on the surface, below them at various depths were sleeping whales at various depths! There were at least ten whales, and it was nearly impossible to capture in a photograph. On the surface, there were two adults taking care of a handful of playful babies, while the other adults slept below.

10

Four whales, three adults and one baby, swim together on the surface. I was hoping to get a glimpse of the baby, which was tucked under the mother. As the four whales passed, what I saw was a bucket list moment—the newborn whale was nursing!

Editor's note:

This is only a small taste of the photos featured in Gaelin Rosenwaks’ hardcover coffee table book— SPERM WHALES: The Gentle Goliaths of the Oceans. Visit www.rizzoliusa.com to buy your copy!