“Tour boats had been watching the young whale for days as it slowly moved through the bay, appearing sicker and slower with more shark bites over its body day after day.”
The scene was visceral. While making its annual migration north along Ningaloo Reef off Australia’s northwest coast, the fledgling-adult humpback, maimed and ailing, inched toward the natural terminus of its life’s journey.
Ashlee Jansen, a budding marine photographer from Western Australia, was there. That day in July 2021, she captured a profound visual allegory of life and death—one that would garner ample renown.
“Friends had spotted an oil slick on the surface caused by the fallen whale,” Jansen stated in a press release. “As they got closer, they were hit by the distinct smell and knew that they had found the location of the carcass resting on the ocean floor….