Robin Moon, Keeping an Arms Length (September theme: What Matters to Me )

A sociable humpback whale will often disobey the mutual 'no touch' rule in the warm waters off Tonga. Such is his cheekiness my heart filled to overwhelming and i think at this time i was snorkel singing to him to convey how much fun he was around us. However, climate change and an increase in unregulated whale swimmers means the waters are warmer, the mothers are dropping their calves earlier and too many people are in the whales' space. This year the numbers of whales were noticeably less - leaving us wondering if they are departing for cooler and quieter spaces. Tourism aside, the loss of the ability to make a connection with this wild, wonderful , gentle and cheeky mammal would be devastating on this person's heart.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.