Photo by PaulNicklen / My free-diving ability pales in comparison to many of my peers, and capturing this moment of a humpback whale with her beautiful calf in Tonga pushed me to my limits. I descended 40 feet (12 meters) below the surface and began inching toward them until I saw a slight twitch in the mother's pectoral flipper. She might simply have been repositioning herself, but she might also have been expressing her idea of a safe distance. No image is worth creating unnecessary stress for wildlife trying to survive in a dangerous world, so I decided to err on the side of caution and let myself drift gently to the surface after firing off a single burst from my camera. Capturing close, intimate moments is one thing, but my ultimate goal as a photographer is to do so while giving animals the space to remain comfortable and undisturbed. Follow me PaulNicklen, where I share the stories behind many more of my most unique and memorable encounters. “Together” was captured on assignmen...