“Ariel” // After dreaming about the opportunity to swim with sperm whales for most of my life, @Mitty and I finally got the chance to photograph a mother-daughter duo in the Caribbean waters of Dominica. Our goal was to capture an intimate portrait of the pair without disturbing their rest, and everything went according to plan– until the calf grew bored of napping and made a beeline for me. “Ariel,” as she was known to biologists, had me doubled over laughing while she mouthed my camera and playfully chased me around the surface. When a 16-foot baby sperm whale decides you are her new favorite toy, there is very little you can do about it. Her mother seemed to welcome the free babysitting and continued to doze. Some encounters reach past the barriers that keep humans separate from the inner world of wildlife, revealing the fragility of the lines between us and our wild kin. When Ariel and her mother welcomed me into their lives for a day, it left me questioning whether those lines exist at all. // To inquire about this piece or view my entire fine art catalogue, please visit the link in my bio. #spermwhale #dominica #fineart #gratitude