Humpback Whale Tag - Alaska

On a whale-watching expedition in Alaska, I took this photo of three humpback whales relatively close to the boat, breaching and swimming together in a procession that looked almost as if they were playing a game of tag, thus my choice of the title. Because of the dramatic contrasts between the black whales against the water and the sky in the background, the photo seemed a good choice to convert from color to monochrome for this contest. As with many of my photographs, the scene also represents the potential effects of climate change, which poses an imminent threat to the survival of so many species of wildlife on the planet, including whales. In the not-too-distant future, pictures may be the only memories we have left of such magnificent creatures. Such images are mute testimony of the urgent need for people to become actively involved in efforts to slow the pace of global warming and climate change. I like to think of these wildlife photos as a faint voice of protest against some influential world leaders, especially our current president, who seem blind and deaf to scientific fact, claiming that global warming is some kind of conspiratorial hoax, while he continues to support policies that only contribute to this apocalyptic problem.
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