Last weekend I was sitting on the edge of a cliff in Big Sur when a whale swam by. My friend turned to me and said, “Every time I see a whale I have an irresistible urge to run to the water and jump in and swim with them.” “Doesn't everyone?” I asked. Apparently not. Even for those rare souls who do have a case of deep desire, most people aren't crazy enough to actually do it. Enter Bryant Austin, the man who has dedicated himself to creating life size photographs of whales. That sounds all fine and dandy until you realize he is coming within 6 feet of a pod of wild animals that can weigh as much as two tons each. First question: “How the heck do you do that?” Lucky for us Bryant explains the process, and told us an amazing story of a close encounter with a carnivorous sperm whale in the following video. After the interview I asked Bryant how he became interested in capturing this unique perspective of whales; he told us a story about his first encounter with Humpback whales. He found himself dangerously close to a calf, and was admiring its agility given their close range of contact when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He explained that he assumed he was bumping into the boat since he was swimming on the surface of the ocean, but when he turned back to look, he was staring into the eye of the mother whale, who had just tapped him with her 15-foot, one-ton pectoral fin. He explained the moment of having actual eye contact with the whale, and realizing that there was a perspective and story that wasn't being told through conventional photographs of whales, and that if he wanted to share this perspective of connecting with the whale. After spending a few days with Bryant's footage and photos of whales I would have to agree. Even as a self proclaimed lover of whales, after looking at these photos, I see the animal in a different way. The photos (his largest photo is 6 feet by 28 feet, and it took 2800 hours to complete) create a feeling of intimacy that Bryant hopes will start to change the way that future generations perceive whales. The short documentary below, “In the Eye of the Whale” tells more of the Bryant's purpose, and explains his experiences of taking these images to the whaling nations. Passion and Purpose Plenty of people go out there and photograph whales, but Bryant has matched his passion with purpose. Whales are in serious danger (to satiate your inner eco geek, see the whaling information at the bottom of this post). Norway is one of the top whaling nations, a country which has a surplus of whaling meat, and has recently raised the limits. Bryant has taken his photographs to Norway to share with adults, and with hopes to influence the youth culture to shift the countries' whale consumption habits. The advocacy for these elements requires a gentle touch of, lets say, a humpback's fin. You need weight and power, and political prowess that allow whaling nations to change their ways with honor. (Norway recently responded to recent pressure by raising numbers even though they have a surplus of meat, while Japan recently requested to negotiate to lower it's “scientific” catch. How can you engage? Of course there are lots of ways to engage with protecting whales. Depending of your flavor of activism there is Greenpeace, there is the notorious Sea Shepperd, and then there is always Bryant Austin's work. Bryant is one of the humbler people who you will meet, and I had to drag the following information out of him re: how we can support his conservation work: We are presently raising funds to reunite with and film the whale responsible for my first life-size composite photo , which will cost about $50,000 (think what goes into getting on boats, equipment, oxygen, and then waiting for the right moment). We are hoping to begin in April of this year. It will be the first of four individual whales we are working to reunite with and film for our upcoming feature length documentary which has a much higher budget! So if you want to support Bryant's conservation efforts, head on over to his non-profit, Marine Mammal Conservation Through the Arts. More information whales for the curious The blue whales of the Antarctic are at less than 1 percent of their original abundance, despite 40 years of complete protection. Some populations of whales are recovering but some are not. In 2003 Palumbi estimated that humpback whales could have numbered 1.5 million prior to the onset of commercial whaling in the 1800s. Humpback whales currently number in the 20,000. Known environmental threats to whales include global warming, pollution, overfishing, ozone depletion, noise such as sonar weaponry, and ship strikes. Industrial fishing threatens the food supply of whales and also puts whales at risk of entanglement in fishing gear. They were initially guarded by an organization with the misleading title of the International Whaling Commission, known more as a “whalers club” than a conservation organization it states it's mission as: “Recognizing the interest of the nations of the world in safeguarding for future generations the great natural resources represented by the whale stocks…..having decided to conclude a convention to provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry”.
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