Humpback Dolphin Leap (record shot)

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

A record image (and my first encounter) of a Humpback Dolphin leaping clear of the water. This species is generally not as acrobatic as the bottlenose and spinner dolphins, which are more popular for their leaps. Clicked near Grand Islands off Vasco da Gama, Goa.

Canon 500D, Canon 100mm Macro USM
SS 1/4000
Av 8
ISO 800 (probably unnecessary, but I didn't want to risk missing any action :))
Largely cropped

Thanks, C&C welcome.

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Lovely rare image in Indian coastal waters.The composition and background providing soothing effect to both the eyes and the mind.I have never seen Gangetic Dolphin to leap so much clear of water since my childhood when they were common.Thanks for sharing.SaktiWild

[Mrudul Godbole]

Wow great sighting. You could finally get it leaping. The pano composition looks nice. The mountains in the background frame the image nicely. Nicely captured. Thanks for sharing.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Great. Good to see this species. It is nice that you could get it while it was leaping out of water. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Suraj Sreedhar]

NIce to see one.Clicked at the right time.As one cant expect from where its going to leap,i think it would have been a tough time photographing it .
TFS

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Thanks everyone. It is possible to anticipate a leap when one follows the surfacing pattern of the dolphins.

[Roopak Gangadharan]

Nice work abhishek. the scene has come out well.

TFS
Roopak

[Murugan Anantharaman]

Lovely image of the dolphin Abhishek. If you had clicked a second or 2 earlier then you would have got its head portion also in frame. But its mightly difficult to catch these fellows and you have done well here. Were you in a boat while photographing this? I've heard there are spots in the konkan coast from where one can click images of dolphins from the coast also.Thanks for sharing.

[Bhargava Srivari]

Lovely blue waters. Nicely done.

tfs

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Murugan: Although I fired a burst, this was the first shot of the sequence, so none with the head portion visible :(. Another thing is that this species doesn't leap well out of the water like other species.
Dolphins are found pretty much everywhere along the Indian coast, so photographing them would be possible as long as you can get a boat. I have seen them in Mumbai waters as well, near Elephanta island. (Don't know whether it is accessible now that the Navy plans to take charge of the island)