For the past 25 years, British Photographer Christopher Swann has captured stunning shots of cetaceans like whales and dolphins, both beneath and above the surface of the ocean. Swann has become finely attuned to the behaviors of these majestic creatures. Doing so has enabled him to venture close to them for intimate shots.
"I love the beauty and perfection of the sea. Cetaceans epitomize that," Swann says, adding that "nothing is more perfect than any cetacean underwater, but whales are really special. To see animals so huge, yet so graceful, so at ease and at one with their surroundings is exquisite." Rightly so, just take a look at his stunning photo collection below.
1. A beautifully captured shot of a gray whale.
2. Humpback whales captured in the Gulf of California.
3. Dolphins attack a ball of blue jack mackerel.
4. Sperm whales in the Atlantic.
5. A moment in time: A dolphin leaps out of the sea.
6. This shot gives a glimpse of the sheer size of a whale.
7. Three humpback whales spout or blow water - this mechanism occurs as a result of the whale breathing.
8. Up close and personal: the eye of a whale.
9. A stunning birds eye view of four dolphins.
10. A fin whale feeding at the surface showing the baleen and the inside of its mouth.
11. An orca in the sea of Cortez.
12. This magnificent creature is the largest mammal and is the heaviest known to exist.
13. A pilot whale off the Canary Islands.
