2020 brought so many beautiful things into my life. Big shoutout to my friend @james.doughty for letting me play around with his spare underwater housing (& later selling it to me) always helping me learn & grow my photography skills on land, underwater, and in the sky

Thankful to have discovered my love of underwater photography — cannot wait to continue this wild journey and have many more of these incredible experiences

🐳 grateful to have experienced the best moments of life with @mooreamoanatours👇🏼

🐳💖
There I was on surface, as soon as I saw the mom and baby start to ascend to the surface, I pressed record on my @gopro. BOTH mom and baby surfaced and dove back down heading DIRECTLY TO ME 😅

This was my very first time in the water with whales and I had no idea what to do, how close they would come to me.

Is this how it all ends, head on collision with a humpback whale?!
I was terrified to move. Worried if I moved it would startle the mom or baby (who just weeks old)

Soooo I just sat there, holding my breath, and watched these gentle giants swim right at me.

To say it was a magical moment would be a serious understatement. As if that was not incredible enough, the male escort aka minder passed directly below me, singing his beautiful songs. It was so intense and vibrated throughout my entire body 💖

📸 @kokocuvier thank you for this capture!! Cannot wait to be in the water again with @mooreamoanatours 🐳💙🦈

Thank you to our amazing guide @manateacouraud and his expert skills 🤙🏼

I know all these awesome people on the boat are just as thankful for this incredible experience

-Ash