Humpback whales jump and prefer to land on their backs. I don't think I'd want to be doing any 40-ton "belly whoppers" either. The ship's captain was careful not to approach the whales too closely for both legal and ethical reasons which I well appreciate, but it made it difficult to get close enough for a good photograph. This is with my lens extended to a 35mm equivalent of 432mm, plus a 1.4 teleconverter, equivalent to a little over 600mm.