Rosalind Staples was in the right place at the right time to capture striking photographs of a humpback whale leaping out of the ocean.

The images were taken about five miles out to sea to the southwest of the last marker off West Whale Bay Park on March 24.

“We saw him suddenly come out of the water,” Mrs Staples told The Royal Gazette. “You never really see the head out of the water. We were very lucky. It was the right place, the right time.”

Mrs Staples was out on her first whale-watching trip of the season with James Mitchell, the boat’s captain, and four others, when they encountered a pod of four whales. But the Warwick resident said that after watching them blow water for about 30 minutes, they all disappeared under the water.

“On the right-hand side we saw another one by himself,” she said. “He just literally jumped out and then he disappeared.”

She said she had the camera set on sport mode and was therefore able to capture the shots in quick succession.

“It’s so lucky to get them really,” she said. “I love whale-watching time in Bermuda. I went last year for the first time. I love the whole idea of whale watching. It’s so exciting to be out there and knowing they are around.”

Whale-watching season starts in March and runs until the end of this month. The humpbacks pass the island as they migrate from breeding and mating grounds in the Caribbean to their feeding grounds in northern latitudes.