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Story: Phuong Phuong
Photos: Nguyen Ngoc Thien
Join an award-winning photographer on an up-close encounter with giant sperm whales off the coast of East Africa.
Pursuing a passion
With a passion for underwater photography, Nguyen Ngoc Thien has made many trips to explore coral reefs and undersea creatures in the seas of Vietnam and worldwide. In his early years participating in the National Geographic photography community, Mr. Thien was fortunate to admire many top-notch photographic works and learn a lot from talented photographers worldwide, including renowned Canadian marine conservationist and wildlife photographer Paul Nicklen, who is also the co-founder of the non-profit conservation organization SeaLegacy and Oceanographic Magazine. Mr. Thien was especially impressed by Mr. Paul’s photo of a pod of sperm whales sound asleep in the middle of the ocean. Suspended in a vertical position, they resembled giant pillars floating in a vast, weightless space below the sea’s surface. This photo inspired Mr. Thien to find and photograph whales – an endeavor that took many years.
Mr. Thien spent a lot of time researching places in Vietnam and worldwide where whale pods live or migrate. In Vietnam, in 2022, he spent many days diving and filming Bryde’s whales in the waters off De Gi in Binh Dinh province. However, this species is shy and the coastal waters were turbid, resulting in images that left Mr. Thien disappointed. Therefore, he looked into locations where he could find and film whales in distant seas, including the French Polynesian islands, the island nation of Tonga in the South Pacific, and Ningaloo Reef and the Great Barrier Reef on the west and east coasts of Australia. In the end, he chose to explore the waters off East Africa, or the “black continent” – located between the triangle of Madagascar, the French island of Reunion, and the island nation of Mauritius. This region was more accessible from Vietnam.
In May 2023, following the “call from the seas of the black continent”, Mr. Thien’s dreams came true when he and a group of diving friends came face-to-face with the same species of whales that Mr. Paul had photographed. They are considered the “descendants” of the giant white sperm whale mentioned in “Moby Dick”, the literary masterpiece by the great American writer Herman Melville, published in 1851.
With trenches that are 1,000 to 2,000m deep, the waters off East Africa are home to sperm whales that are strictly managed by whale conservation organizations and authorities of countries in this region. “Nothing is difficult if you try to pursue your passion. In the end, we had the opportunity to witness these giants of the ocean with our own eyes and come face to face with them,” said Mr. Thien.
A surreal sight
Sperm whales belong to the toothed whale family and are the largest toothed predators in the world. An adult male sperm whale can be 16 to 20m long and weigh 35 to 50 tons, while females are about 10 to 15m long and weigh about 20 to 30 tons. Sperm whales set many records, having the largest head of any animal, which accounts for 25-35% of their total body length. The brain weighs up to 8kg, while the heart can weigh an amazing 125kg. The diet of sperm whales includes octopus, squid, giant squid, and many species of fish, such as bottom-dwelling rays.
“No two days are the same when going out to sea to find whales. Some days, as soon as you set out, you see a whale spraying a column of water in the distance. But there are also days when you drift all day in the vast ocean without seeing any whales,” explained Mr. Thien. To raise the chance of finding whales, some boats have invested in basic sonar devices to detect and record the sounds of whales in the ocean.
After finding some whales, the divers descend to a depth of 10 to 15m to get a wide enough angle and a panoramic view that captures the sperm whales’ enormous size. The whales often emit intermittent clicking sounds, which is how they communicate with each other. If you see divers and whales in the same frame, it’s evident how small humans are compared to these underwater giants.
Researchers began to study these whales in the 18th century. Still, it was not until 2008 that they announced that many pods of sperm whales sleep in an upright position just below the water’s surface for many minutes at a time. It is still unclear why whales sleep in this vertical position. Some researchers suggest that this position helps them to control their breathing and allows them to quickly react in case of danger, for instance if attacked by killer whales.
Mr. Thien has filmed many large undersea creatures, including oceanic manta rays, scalloped hammerhead sharks, white-tip reef sharks, black-tip reef sharks, dolphins, Bryde’s whales, humpback whales, etc. He reports that his encounter with sleeping sperm whales was the most impressive and surreal scene.
This species is known for being able to dive the deepest, often descending one to two kilometers to forage. Each dive can last for one or two hours. It’s rare to see these whales sleeping since it’s hard to know their location in the middle of the vast ocean. Even ordinary sonar equipment has trouble finding them as they lie almost completely motionless below the water’s surface and rarely make noise when asleep.
“On the seventh day of the journey, our emotions exploded. My diving friends and I did not expect to be lucky enough to witness such a spectacular scene of whales sleeping upright in the ocean!” said Mr. Thien.
After years pursuing his passion for undersea photography, Nguyen Ngoc Thien’s “Journey to Find Whales in the East African Sea” was chosen as an award-winning photo set in the 2023 Heritage Photography Award – Heritage Journey.
