Hunting for photos of whales hunting in the sea and sky of Vietnam

In the summer of 2025, rare giant gray whales (Bryde's whales) appeared in the Nhon Ly sea area of ​​Quy Nhon Dong ward (Gia Lai province). The whales swam and surfaced to hunt for prey, creating spectacular scenes that attracted many photographers.

Bryde's whale catches prey among birds in Nhon Ly sea ( Gia Lai province) at dawn on July 5. Photo: Pham Quoc Hung

Photographer Pham Quoc Hung, 24 years old, a math teacher in Khanh Hoa province, is one of the photographers who came to Nhon Ly beach in early July 2025 with the aim of taking a series of photos of whales hunting with a digital camera with a long focal length lens (70-300mm) and a flycam. He said: "I am very lucky to witness for the first time the unforgettable majestic scene of the "ocean giant" right in the sea of ​​Vietnam's homeland".

The scene is overwhelming.

Mr. Quoc Hung said that his first trip to photograph Bryde's whales, which migrate seasonally to find food near shore, went quite smoothly in his "photography career" because the day he boarded the boat to take pictures, the weather was very good, the sunrise was beautiful, the wind was gentle so the sea had no big waves.

From the sea surface not too far from the mainland, a giant “whale” over 10m long suddenly emerged from the waves, opened its huge mouth (called the phenomenon of standing) to suck in schools of small fish and then gently dived down. The large waves splashed with white foam contrasted with the deep blue sea water and the beautiful orange sky at dawn.

A flock of swallows swoops low, following the whales’ migration, creating a rare natural scene of interaction between two very different species of animals: “birds flying in the sky, fish swimming in the water”. These precious elements require photographers to use all their skills to capture the “golden moments” at sea.

Bryde's whales have been continuously appearing close to the shore in Vietnam's waters since 2022, which is considered a positive sign for the improvement of the country's marine environment. Photo taken by Quoc Hung on July 5.

Mr. Quoc Hung exclaimed: “I was really overwhelmed when I first witnessed whales up close, a scene that I had only seen on TV or in pictures. That morning, whales surfaced to catch prey many times, so I took quite a few photos. This is a special memory in my photography journey.”

The hobby is also very elaborate. Mr. Quoc Hung said that photographers have to travel by basket boats or fishermen's boats that are always unstable on the waves, or shake violently if it is windy.

“This is quite risky for both the photographer and the equipment when standing on a whale hunting boat. Therefore, it is normal for many photos to be out of focus (lost focus, blurred) or not properly composed. Not to mention the equipment getting wet or falling into the sea. Many photographers with the same passion as me have suffered more or less damage during the recent whale hunting trip,” said Mr. Quoc Hung.

Mr. Pham Quoc Hung has been taking landscape photos professionally since 2017 and has won photography awards such as: 3rd Prize Nation Sony World Photography 2019, Bronze Medal Vietnam Art Photography 2022, Bronze Medal South Central and Central Highlands Regional Photo Festival 2024...

Experience in taking flycam/drone photos

Mr. Quoc Hung believes that hunting for Bryde's whales in Vietnam's waters requires using a high-resolution camera so that the original image files are tilted (due to the boat shaking) or the whale subject is far away and not close to the boat and the lens cannot zoom in (capture close-up) to reach, then it is still possible to post-process by cropping (changing, reducing the photo composition) according to usage needs.

In addition, photographers should use lenses equipped with anti-shake features marked IS (Image Stabilization) by Canon, VR (Vibration Reduction) by Nikon or OSS (Optical Steady Shot) by Sony to reduce the rate of blurred images.

Regarding flycam/drone, Mr. Quoc Hung uses Mavic 4 Pro for good photo quality and has 70mm and 168mm lenses (telephoto cam) to help choose more shooting angles "or if not near where the whale surfaced, we can still take photos from afar in the air".

According to Mr. Quoc Hung, the biggest advantage of flycam is having new aerial angles, high mobility when shooting in difficult terrain. The most challenging thing is taking off/landing flycam from a boat (always unstable and not as stable as on the ground) which has many potential risks for both people and equipment if lacking experience.

Quoc Hung uses flycam to take pictures of whales at sea.

With experience in taking photos with flycams since 2018, Mr. Quoc Hung shared: “Flying a flycam to take photos with whales is not easy because whales will randomly float up and down, making it difficult to observe and determine the direction in the middle of the vast ocean. Then the fish will float up and down for less than a minute before diving away. Sometimes by the time the flycam arrives, the opportunity to take photos has already passed. Therefore, the photographer needs to be quick in observing to be able to capture moments that take place in such a limited time.”

“What I find most interesting in each photo hunting trip is not only the moments when taking pictures, but also the knowledge about the culture of each locality to know that our country is beautiful and there are many things for domestic and foreign tourists to explore ” - said Mr. Quoc Hung, a photographer who just received 3rd Prize in the 2025 Land of Thousands of Flowers Photo Contest organized by Saigon Giai Phong Newspaper .

Long Khanh

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/dong-nai-cuoi-tuan/202507/san-anh-ca-voi-san-moi-giua-bien-troi-viet-nam-0f51d5b/