Whale is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more often it excludes dolphins and porpoises, which belong to suborder Odontoceti (toothed whales). This suborder also includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga whale. The other Cetacean suborder Mysticeti (baleen whales), are filter feeders that eat small organisms caught by straining seawater through a comblike structure found in the mouth called baleen. This suborder includes the blue whale, the humpback whale, the bowhead whale and the minke whale. All Cetacea have forelimbs modified as fins, a tail with horizontal flukes, and nasal openings (blowholes) on top of the head.



Whales range in size from the blue whale, the largest animal known to have ever existed at 35 m (115 ft) and 150 tonnes (150 LT; 170 ST), to various pygmy species, such as the pygmy sperm whale at 3.5 m (11 ft).


Whales collectively inhabit all the world's oceans and number in the millions, with annual population growth rate estimates for various species ranging from 3-13%. For centuries, whales have been hunted  for meat and as a source of raw materials. By the middle of the 20th century, however, industrial whaling had left many species seriously endangered, leading to the end of whaling in all but a few countries.

Andrew's armor - the operator of the underwater Dominican Republic - called magician whales.And all because he made friends with one of the largest representatives of the underwater world - sperm whale. 10-year-old male sperm whale, nicknamed Scar allows Andrew to stroke it, to swim side by side and even cleaned it.

These photographs made the coast of the Caribbean island of Dominican Republic in late January, shows how much the diver can get closer to the Scars - 10-year-old male sperm whale.  

Underwater operator Andrew Armor famous as the "exorcist whales" after the friendly with a huge sperm whale, which allows him to swim beside him.

Tony and Eric spent three days photographing the scars and other family members under the watchful gaze Andrew.

"When sperm whales communicate, they often approach each other at first heads.  Each of them seemed to feel physically different. They often rub together, which has a practical purpose - so they rip off with a loose skin. Where such groups are going in the water was full of the skin, similar to black plastic bags.

"So do we remember the sounds made by sperm whales. During their "meetings" their "Clicking" were deafening.  We shook like
These photos are also available to other family members traveling with the scar. For example, you can see this "talk of whales. It seems that they met to talk.

And in this photo whales swim the perfect system, as if during underwater march.

"Since then, he and another young female immediately swam to us, as soon as saw our boat.Now he recognizes me when I swim.I think he even know my voice. I can swim up to him very closely, because we know each other.  It even allows me to occasionally clean it.

Now Andrew can invite their friends, divers, to share with them an unforgettable experience.  He invited underwater photographers 34-year-old Eric Chang from San Francisco and 42-year-old Tony Wu from Tokyo to capture his incredible friendship with a scar and other whales.

"When we first saw Tony Schram, we had to step aside, that this giant is not facing us, - explains Eric. – Soon, we overcame the fear of one of America's largest creatures on the planet. We stroked Schram, who several times turned over like a dog with joy. "

"Humanize animals - even intellectual - is dangerous, but in this case, it was clear that the scar itself was on contact.