Tarifa, Spain (2006)

These pictures were taken in Tarifa and the Strait of Gibraltar during whale watching with the Swiss foundation FIRMM. Many thanks to Katharina Heyer and all the participants who made this possible. I can warmly recommend this unique experience!

castle — Fig. 1: The small castle of Tarifa in the light of the morning sun. This morning we wanted to go out to see the orcas for the first time, but the dense fog over the Strait of Gibraltar didn't allow us to leave. Not even the fishermen went out. Well, if nature doesn't want it, there's nothing you can do. — Nikon D200, Nikkor AF-S 80-200 1:2.8, Tarifa, Spain, July 2006

Striped Dolphin — Fig. 2: A striped dolphin jumps out of the water. — Strait of Gibraltar

Three Bottlenose Dolphins — Fig. 3: Three bottlenose dolphins emerge from the water and gasp. — Strait of Gibraltar

Tarifa-Tangier fast ferry — Fig. 4: The high-speed catamaran of the ferry connection between Tarifa (Spain) and Tangier (Morocco) of the FRS. — Strait of Gibraltar

Bottlenose dolphin — Fig. 5: A bottlenose dolphin gasps for air. Note that the dolphins always close their eyes when they briefly emerge from the water. — Strait of Gibraltar

Pilot Whale — Fig. 6: A Pilot Whale appears right next to the boat and gasps for air. — Strait of Gibraltar

Pilot whales — Fig. 7: Three pilot whales. The large, torpedo-like head serves as a sonar transmitter and receiver for underwater squid hunting. — Strait of Gibraltar

Common Dolphin — Fig. 8: A common dolphin gasps for air. This species of dolphin is smaller than the striped and bottlenose dolphins. — Strait of Gibraltar

Common dolphin — Fig. 9: A common dolphin (also: common dolphin) slices through the water surface. — Strait of Gibraltar

FIRMM boat — Fig. 10: The larger boat of the FIRMM. — Strait of Gibraltar

Jumping dolphin — Fig. 11: A dolphin jumps out of the water in high spirits. — Strait of Gibraltar

Bottlenose dolphin — Fig. 12: A bottlenose dolphin emerges from the water. — Strait of Gibraltar

Bottlenose dolphin with blisters — Fig. 13: A bottlenose dolphin just surfacing. Just before they cut through the water surface, the animals exhale and as soon as the breathing hole is above water, they inhale again. — Strait of Gibraltar

Bottlenose Dolphin — Fig. 14: Water splashes as a bottlenose dolphin surfaces to breathe. — Strait of Gibraltar

Bottlenose Dolphin with Rainbow — Fig. 15: A bottlenose dolphin appears in front of the boat and the water splashes break the sunlight into a rainbow. — Strait of Gibraltar

Bottlenose Dolphin with Rainbow — Fig. 16: A bottlenose dolphin appears in front of the boat and the water splashes break the sunlight into a rainbow. — Strait of Gibraltar

Two porpoises under water — Fig. 17: Two porpoises swim with the boat just below the surface of the water. — Strait of Gibraltar

Three bottlenose dolphins — Fig. 18: Three bottlenose dolphins swim with the boat. — Strait of Gibraltar

Eye to eye — Fig. 19: Eye to eye with a bottlenose dolphin swimming with the boat just below the surface of the water. In contrast to other whale watching companies, FIRMM never drives the boat directly into a group of whales or dolphins, but always parallel to it so as not to disturb them. If the animals want to, they come to the boat themselves. — Strait of Gibraltar

Pilot whale with bubbles — Fig. 20: A pilot whale pushes through the water surface, exhales and produces air bubbles. — Strait of Gibraltar

Snorting Pilot Whale — Fig. 21: A Pilot Whale surfaces and splutters the water to inhale. — Strait of Gibraltar

alley — Fig. 22: One of the many alleys of Tarifa. — Nikon D200, Nikkor AF-S 28-70 1:2.8, Tarifa, Spain, July 2006

palm tree — Fig. 23: A palm tree in Tarifa — Nikon D200, Nikkor AF-S 28-70 1:2.8, Tarifa, Spain, July 2006

Pillar — Fig. 24: A pillar and in the background is Africa. — Nikon D200, Nikkor AF-S 28-70 1:2.8, Tarifa, Spain, July 2006

fountain — Fig. 25: The fountain in the square above next to the castle. — Nikon D200, Nikkor AF-S 28-70 1:2.8, Tarifa, Spain, July 2006

Gull — Fig. 26: A seagull in flight — Nikon D200, Nikkor AF-S 28-70 1:2.8, Tarifa, Spain, July 2006

Zhen Hua 8 — Fig. 27: The "Zhen Hua 8", An impressive crane ship from ZPMC struggles through the Strait of Gibraltar. Even the Marinero Diego of the FIRMM boat has rarely seen anything like this. The ship transports port cranes to unload and load containers. I wonder how much draft the ship has that it doesn't tip over. — Strait of Gibraltar

Orca fins — Fig. 28: Finally, after two attempts because of fog in the Strait of Gibraltar, it worked this morning. We spot a group of orcas swimming straight towards the tuna fishermen. The male's long, straight dorsal fin on the left gave these animals their second name: killer whales. The other three are probably females or young males. — Strait of Gibraltar Nikon D200; Δt=1/1000 s; f=200 mm; f/9.0; ISO 400; 27 July 2006 08:52:10

Orca with a bow wave — Fig. 29: A killer whale (lat. Orcinus orca) surfaces in the Strait of Gibraltar and gasps for air. Where's the nearest fishing boat with fresh, delicious tuna? Whale watching with the Swiss foundation FIRMM in Tarifa. Nikon D200; Δt=1/1000 s; f=200 mm; f/2.8; ISO 200; 27 July 2006 09:11:01

Orca doing a backstroke — Fig. 30: Excited about the forthcoming tuna feast, this orca does a backswim and shows its large, round fins. I skipped the following pics this morning as the light wasn't great and the pics from the next day's ride are much better. — Strait of Gibraltar Nikon D200; Δt=1/1000 s; f=200 mm; f/3.5; ISO 200; 27 July 2006 09:18:01

Orca diving — Fig. 31: Orca diving Nikon D200; Δt=1/1000 s; f=200 mm; f/3.5; ISO 200; 27 July 2006 09:18:09

Group of orcas — Fig. 32: Group of orcas Nikon D200; Δt=1/1000 s; f=200 mm; f/4.5; ISO 200; 27 July 2006 09:28:06

Group of orcas — Fig. 33: Group of orcas Nikon D200; Δt=1/1000 s; f=200 mm; f/4.5; ISO 200; 27 July 2006 09:38:45

Diving sperm whale — Fig. 34: The fluke of a sperm whale diving in the distance. — Strait of Gibraltar Nikon D200; Δt=1/1000 s; f=200 mm; f/4.5; ISO 200; 27 July 2006 09:45:13

Group of orcas — Fig. 35: Group of orcas Nikon D200; Δt=1/1000 s; f=80 mm; f/5.0; ISO 200; 27 July 2006 09:57:30

Two Bottlenose Dolphins — Fig. 36: Two bottlenose dolphins emerge briefly from the water and gasp for air. — Strait of Gibraltar

Two Bottlenose Dolphins — Fig. 37: Two bottlenose dolphins emerge briefly from the water and gasp for air. — Strait of Gibraltar

Pilot whale splashing water — Fig. 38: A pilot whale emerges and splashes water. — Strait of Gibraltar

Pilot whale baby — Fig. 39: A pilot whale baby jumps out of the water and grins at the camera. — Strait of Gibraltar

Orcas between fishing boats — Fig. 40: Orcas between fishing boats Nikon D200; Δt=1/1000 s; f=200 mm; f/5.0; ISO 200; 28 July 2006 11:52:07

Ocas with fishing boat — Fig. 41: Ocas with fishing boat Nikon D200; Δt=1/1000 s; f=200 mm; f/5.0; ISO 200; 28 July 2006 11:56:18

Orcas with fishing boat — Fig. 42: Three orcas and a fishing boat. The orcas come to the Strait of Giraltar every year from July to August, because that is when the fishermen of Spain and Morocco catch the tuna swimming out of the Mediterranean Sea with long fishing lines. The animals have noticed that someone else is doing the tedious work of catching them for them. In addition, tuna are usually too quick for the orcas. They wait for the tuna to bite, tire and be pulled up by the fishermen before nibbling them off the line in a flash. They knowingly leave the heads with the fishing hooks behind. — Strait of Gibraltar Nikon D200; Δt=1/1000 s; f=200 mm; f/5.0; ISO 200; 28 July 2006 11:56:40

Baby Orca — Fig. 43: A baby orca jumps out of the water. The light spots are not yet white, but orange-brown. — Strait of Gibraltar Nikon D200; Δt=1/1000 s; f=200 mm; f/5.0; ISO 200; 28 July 2006 11:56:55

Spanish fishermen — Fig. 44: Spanish fishermen have cast out two lines and are waiting for a tuna to bite. Then the race with the orcas begins. Who gets the fish first? The orcas or the fishermen? It's understandable that the fishermen are angry with the orcas, especially since this type of fishing does not threaten the tuna population ... in contrast to the "Armadraba", the huge fishing labyrinth of nets in spring. The Spanish fishermen, on behalf of the Japanese, catch the tuna in bulk before they can swim to the Mediterranean Sea to spawn. — Strait of Gibraltar Nikon D200; Δt=1/1000 s; f=200 mm; f/5.0; ISO 200; 28 July 2006 12:10:19

Moroccan fishermen — Fig. 45: Moroccan fishermen on their small nutshell in the middle of the sea. It's backbreaking work, but the prospect of a €2,500 tuna catch is enticing - especially by Moroccan standards. — Strait of Gibraltar Nikon D200; Δt=1/1000 s; f=200 mm; f/4.5; ISO 200; 28 July 2006 12:11:26

Orca among fishing boats — Fig. 46: An orca pops up between the many fishing boats (sometimes up to 80 in the same place) a few times to get some air. Then they disappeared again for a few minutes to eat. Next time they'll show up somewhere else entirely. Very difficult to photograph as you are either on the wrong side of the boat or you are too far away or there is another boat in front of you. But this makes things all the more exciting. — Strait of Gibraltar Nikon D200; Δt=1/1000 s; f=200 mm; f/4.5; ISO 200; 28 July 2006 12:17:52

Orca with fishing boat — Fig. 47: An orca appears briefly between the many fishing boats to get a breath of air. — Strait of Gibraltar Nikon D200; Δt=1/1000 s; f=200 mm; f/4.0; ISO 200; 28 July 2006 12:18:08

Orca taking a breath — Fig. 48: An orca comes up for air a few times between its tuna feasts. — Strait of Gibraltar Nikon D200; Δt=1/1000 s; f=200 mm; f/4.5; ISO 200; 28 July 2006 12:18:11

Orca gasps — Fig. 49: Orca gasps Nikon D200; Δt=1/1000 s; f=200 mm; f/4.5; ISO 200; 28 July 2006 13:10:05

jumping dolphins — Fig. 50: A small common dolphin jumps out of the water at right angles to two others. The whole group must have included more than 100 animals. You didn't know where to look and where to aim. Photography is just a matter of luck. — Strait of Gibraltar

striped dolphin — Fig. 51: a striped dolphin pierces the water surface to breathe. — Strait of Gibraltar

Dolphin side roll — Fig. 52: A striped dolphin jumps out of the water with a high leap and rotates around its longitudinal axis. The autofocus hardly likes that, especially because you almost never know beforehand when and where a dolphin will jump out of the water. — Strait of Gibraltar

Leaping Striped Dolphins — Fig. 53: Striped dolphins are jumping out of the water. An earlier picture from this series showed three dolphins, but unfortunately the autofocus hadn't focused yet. The reject rate for this type of photography is around 90 percent or more - depending on how demanding you are. :-) — Strait of Gibraltar

jumping striped dolphin — Fig. 54: A striped dolphin is jumping out of the water and that too in full focus and with the light from the right side. Here, photography with serial images and release priority is necessary. — Strait of Gibraltar