Canadian photographer captures divers submerged in cloud of whale poo

Four free divers taking photos of a sperm whale off the Island of Dominica got quite the surprise last spring when they found themselves submerged in a cloud of whale poo.

As the divers, who were on a government-approved expedition, slowly approached the whale, it turned toward them and started to defecate. It spun in circles as it bobbed up and down, wafting the faecal matter with its tail, seemingly intent on spreading it in their direction.

“The water was crystal clear, initially, and was the most idyllic Caribbean blue water that you could imagine. After a few waves of faeces were released and stirred vigorously by the whale, the water was like chocolate milk, I couldn’t see my hand when I held it in front of my face,” recalled Canadian photographer Keri Wilk, 30, who described the brown mist as a “poonado.”

“I had poop in my eyes, mouth, wetsuit, everywhere and I was soaked in it from head to toe.”

Wilk caught the poo attack, considered to be a rarely seen defence mechanism, on camera. This week, the fascinating, poop-filled photos are going viral.

Earlier this month, Wilk shared his story on Facebook:

“The guilty whale stayed in one spot, kept defecating, and spinning like a bus-sized blender, growing the cloud to well over 100 feet in diameter. The 30 foot whale was completely hidden inside the gigantic poop ball. When we were sufficiently confused/blinded by poop, it burst out of the poop ball faster than I’ve ever seen a whale move.”

“This is essentially the equivalent of an octopus squirting ink, and as strange as it sounds, this was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen underwater. And no, we didn’t do anything to stress the animal, and all government permit rules were followed precisely with an extremely experienced guide and boat captain.”

After a few minutes of the (gross) attack, the whale dove out of sight.

While the residue of the “poonado” quickly washed away, Wilk took an extra long shower later that day, “just in case.”

“I’ve never heard of it happening before, and I don’t know anyone that has had this happen, it very well could be the first time that it has been photographically documented,” Wilk said.

“I’ve experienced lots of interesting natural phenomenon underwater, all over the world, but this was is near the top of the list! As long as you didn’t take your mask off, you couldn’t really smell anything — taste is another matter — and as soon as it started happening, I knew it was an extremely unusual occurrence. It was a very exciting event to see unfold underwater – despite the fact that it essentially boils down to a whale throwing shit at us,“ Wilk told 500px.com.

Listen to Wilk tell the story on BBC World Service Radio here:

Had enough of poo? Watch some beautiful footage from Wilk’s sperm-whale expedition below.