Humpback whale performs amazing breach - but tourists miss it

This is the moment a majestic humpback whale in Australia performed a spectacular breach right next to a tourist boat - while they were looking the other way.

One lucky whale watcher, John Goodridge, not only saw the display but also managed to catch it on camera from another boat.

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The huge marine mammal dwarfs the sightseeing boat which looks like it is just metres from the 40-tonne beast bursting from the waves to the left of the photograph taken on Tuesday.

British amateur wildlife photographer and whale enthusiast John Goodridge took this amazing shot from another boat as hopeful tourists toured the waters just off the coast of Sydney, Australia, to catch a glimpse of whales during the annual winter migration from south to north.


Yorkshireman John, 52, was just 300 yards away when he took the perfectly timed picture.


The dad-of-three who works for a packaging company said: "They were all looking the wrong way because about eight minutes before the whale had breached on the other side of the boat and they were waiting for it to come up again.

"I have been photographing whales more seriously now for about a year and you get used to the way they move and where they will come up again. It might have breached one place eight minutes ago but in that time underwater it could have swum anyway.

"I suppose they were lucky in a way, I've never seen a whale breach that close to a boat before and the thing was bobbing like a cork when it landed in the water, it was certainly longer and heavier than the boat."

John, originally from York, lives in Sydney with his Australian wife and three children. He used a recently purchased Cannon 1DX and 100 - 400 lens to get the photograph.

He said: "Some people have asked me if there's a trick of perspective with the image, but no, the whale was right next to the boat. I didn't get the splash sadly because I turned to shoot another whale, but I definitely saw a splash."

Every year thousands of humpbacks - some as big as 50 tonnes and 52-feet long - migrate along the Eastern Australian coastline from the cold waters of Antarctica to the tropics. Between June and August pregnant females are often heading north to give birth to protect their calves from the colder southern temperatures.

From September to November an estimated population of more than 8,000 whales make the 6,000 mile journey south once more to the Southern Ocean to feed on huge plumes of krill and other tiny crustaceans.