Swimming With Humpback Whales - Vava'u Tonga

[TheAnimallover81]

This video is do amazing! My eyes are beginning to water cause I've wanted to do this ever since I was a little girl! Now I'm 30 soon to be 31 and I want to do this before I get any older!!!! :-)

[newsk8ter117]

that was a kitchen?

[sophieloves2dayfm]

i did that it was amazing

[jetairteam]

Awesome ! anyone see that MONSTER at 5:18, scared the sh*t out of me !

[shaggerb]

@jetairteam

I had to check the video to see what you meant. Horrifying! Sorry about that. :-)

[jetairteam]

@shaggerb ;D

[Hunting4TheLight]

@jetairteam so,is this funny?You make fun of him cauze his fat ??

[jetairteam]

@Hunting4TheLight Its called a light-hearted joke my dear frnd, u've got to be a stuck up jerk to take tht personally... ;)

[Hunting4TheLight]

how deep are those waters?Anyone ???

[shaggerb]

@Hunting4TheLight

In closer to the islands we could see the bottom - maybe 20 - 30 metres. Out further probably hundreds of metres deep. One flick of the tale and the whale disappeared into the deep. There was a big male circling us too and he was deep enough we only saw him occasionally.

[Hunting4TheLight]

@shaggerb thanks

[artur1992online]

@jetairteam idiot !

[jetairteam]

@artur1992online really ? was a light hearted joke that Shag didn't mind... ;)

[artur1992online]

@jetairteam yes really !

[jetairteam]

@artur1992online bumcake !

[chizoioioi]

the baby came to you ^^

[TheLeilisa]

Does swimming regularly make you grow taller?

[paragirl1]

Amazing. I'm so impressed that the mother trusted you and didn't try to chase you away.

[shaggerb]

@paragirl1

There was a big male circling below us the entire time too. Whaleswim go to a lot of effort to make sure we don't spend too much time in the water or stress the animals. They're pretty relaxed as you can see by how inquisitive the calf was.

[DaisyDube]

Holy FU$%!!!! I have never even thought of this! I would LOVE to try something like this. I swam with whale sharks in Palawan, but this is much different.

[shaggerb]

@DaisyDube

I've swum with whale sharks off Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia too and the experience is entirely different.

[papasmurf530]

why cant you touch them:( i wana film diving footage with blue whales one day wewt

[shaggerb]

@papasmurf530

If you get too close an accidental flick of the flipper or tail could kill or seriously injure you. These are BIG animals even if they act fairly gently around people.

[rockrg1rl]

i saw some while i was diving too.. it was so amazing i couldnt describe it...

[blascoviu]

CONGRATULATIONS, seeing those creatures gives me such a good feeling, and they make make cry though....

[chaddimps55]

the humbback whales are one of thr most calm and majestik whales on the planet

[pinkquartz79]

This is awesome! I really hope these magnificent gentle giants are preserved...

[lukewarm711]

some of that photography is amazing!

[Sing4Paula]

Beautiful.

[megadork456]

Simply Stunning. Just don't get too close. One time a group got too close to the calf and the mother protectivley swatted them with her fluke. To another whale, it would have simply been a warning, but for humans, it broke one diver's leg and rendered another unconcious. You do not trifle with the queen of the seas!

[chuobio]

You guys are brave, man.

[Cornogirl]

Awesome

[TheBlackBird11]

Woha! that must been an cool situation to find yourself in, swimming with whales!

i sure hate those dumbass whalers who doesn't respect mother nature, and her animals.

great video thou.

[LCDLGAZ]

Are you permitted to interact by touch with them in the area you were diving?

[shaggerb]

No.

[SaberTanker22]

man that water is so deep and blue . is there ship wrecks at tonga.

[shaggerb]

There's at least one just off the capital Nukuʻalofa that was very cool to snorkel over, in and around. There are probably more.

[SaberTanker22]

IS there sharks are dangerous animals that can do harm around tonga. it be my first time scubing soon.

[shaggerb]

There are sharks everywhere there is ocean. Most of the time you never see sharks and when you do they're usually scared of you.

[penolva]

I cant help but come back and view this every so often its magic and so peacefull

[soso214]

The reason they don't get closer to the whale is because it has a baby, if you get closer it feels threatened and it wants to protect the baby and so it will attack

[shaggerb]

I don't think that is correct. The babies are very inquisitive and will come right up to swimmers. Sometimes they may even accidentally bump a swimmer. The adult humpbacks keep an eye on what is going on but the minute they feel threatened or distressed or just want some quiet time they just swim off. I don't think humpbacks have ever attacked swimmers.

[penolva]

Do you know if its true that Tonga is going to allow Japan to hunt the humpback again? i have tried to get up to date info here in UK. If this was to happen I would not go to Tonga. Long live humpback whales

[shaggerb]

I haven't heard that and I can't find much about it. I did find a petition discussing it but that was from 2002. We swam with Whaleswim when we went and they spend half the year on Vava'u so they may be better placed to know the latest. Contact Rae at Whaleswim on rae(at)whaleswim(dot)com . Tell her Shane sent you from here :-)

[penolva]

Thanks I will, it was only because of what ecovision78 said that made me worried.

[Bolt901]

why dont you people get closer to the whale?!?

[shaggerb]

We actually not very far from the whales. I was using a really wide angle lens that makes everything look further away.

You're not allowed get too close though. You don't want to distress the whales.

The baby whale that swam up to us was almost within touching distance but you're not allowed touch either.

[psymon777]

This is sweet, but the camera job sucks.

[ecovision78]

TONGA receive 1 million dollars a year from Japan for their vote at the IWC to support a full return to commercial whaling. If this happens the Humpback, and Fin whales will become EXTINCT!!!,

Support sustainable eco-tourism TONGA by protecting whales.

The only reason whales make it as far as Tonga to breed is because other countries on the whales migratory routes protect them on their onward passage.

[ecovision78]

TONGA HAVE VOTED FOR THE RETURN TO FULL SCALE COMMERCIAL SLAUGHTER OF HUMPBACK WHALES!!!!

kill a whale once and tell your grandchildren the story of whale slaughter -but protect them and photograph them 000' of times and let your grandchildren photograph and experience their beauty themselves in 70 years time.

TONGA is supporting Japan in the EXTINCTION of Humpback whales!!!

[ClubPenguinFan8]

Im only 10 and i cried at that! It was so amazing!!!!! and before u ask im a boy!!!!!! Have u seen that game "Endless Ocean" For Wii? Im getting it soon! i cant wait to see the whales in THAT!

[shaggerb]

Thank you.

I hadn't seen "Endless Ocean" but now I've looked at a few screen shots and it looks pretty good.

[AnimalzCryToo]

amazing! Gorgeous video! Thank you for posting it and sharing the wonderful creatures these whales are.

Thank You!

[penolva]

I cant thank you enough for posting this. I will go there and swim with these angels of the sea for my 60th birthday. It almost makes me cry when the baby comes to have a closer look at you, I just hope and pray I have something so amazing happen when I go to Tonga next year. I did make a vid when I saw the humpbacks in Alaska but I had to stay on the boat but I fell in love and to be in the ocean with them would be unbelievable, wish me luck.

[shaggerb]

Thank you for your comment. You'll have a great time in Tonga. Hopefully the whales will be in the mood to play. Your video is excellent too by the way. Imagine watching the humpbacks playing like that knowing that you'll be in the water with them in 5 minutes.

My video doesn't really show how close we were to the whales. Especially the baby when it came up close. I had a special extra wide lens on the camera so I could fit everything in so everything looks further away than it actually was.

[penolva]

Even closer wow, what camera did you use? I will be there for at least 8 days so hope they will want to play at least once.

[shaggerb]

Video shot with a Sony HVRA1 HDV camera in an Ikelite underwater housing.

[DeZPeRAd0]

i never would swim with such a big fucking piece of trash haha .

[jaravato]

wo.OW

[ronimmmm]

can you touch the whales?

[shaggerb]

No. The whales can get close enough that you can touch but it isn't allowed and you shouldn't.

[FreedomForOrcas]

Ohh you're so lucky!

How can I get my hands on a waterproof camera? Or can you get standard cameras that can go in water?

Great video!

[shaggerb]

There are some small waterproof digital still cameras that aren't expensive. You can get cases for almost any camera fairly cheaply. With a video camera you will need a waterproof housing/case. They can be expensive though depending on the camera.

[ArchieAnDJB4life]

soo pretty! i cant beleive tht the japenese(i know i spelled it wrong) would kill animals like that :(

[aboshreek11]

Lucky divers.

[halowarz9]

I was in hawaii and we heard the whales sining and we were in the boat, we were looking around for 5 minutes trying to figure out what it was.

[halowarz9]

If I was diving and I saw those whales come out of nowhere I would be scared s***less that they appeared out of nowhere.

[shaggerb]

Funny you should mention that... we were swimming around with the mother and baby and huge dark shape appeared directly below us and glided by. It was the BIG male companion just keeping an eye on things. It circled for a while. Wasn't scary but it did surprise us. It was singing too. You could even feel the whale song in the boat.

[Tanksta39]

Isn't it dangerous to go there?

[shaggerb]

To swim with whales? Definitely not dangerous although it was mentioned to us that babies can be a bit uncoordinated and possibly bump a swimmer accidently. Rarely happens though. Tonga isn't dangerous either. Beautiful people and country.

[Tanksta39]

Well for sharks. I thought sharks could attack you guys lol, And other marine life.

[hihijk3210]

wow. thats so awesome!

[slash4324]

Fantastic! :D what does an Ikelite housing cost to it?

[shaggerb]

Depends on the camera - about $150 for a small digital camera up to a few thousand for the big expensive gear. Video camera housing range from about $500 up depending on the camera - average price is about $800 - $1200 though I think.

[1337right1337]

Hey thanks very much for the reply and the info, my wive and I and our 2 teenage boys really look forward to the Blue Lagoon, sounds like a great place, while we are on the subject are mossie flies a problem there?

[shaggerb]

You're welcome. We stayed in Neiafu, the town on Vava'u and we had a mosquito net over the bed so mozzies were an issue there a bit at night. Flies not so much. I'm pretty sure Blue Lagoon would have mozzie nets too. We met a few people that stayed at Blue Lagoon and they all thought it was superb... especially the food.

[1337right1337]

Hi There, I am heading to Vava'u next month with my family staying at the Blue Lagoon Resort, how close do the whales come to the islands? do we have to travel very far to see the whales?

Great video, thanks for posting,

Rodger

[shaggerb]

Hi Rodger, the whales come fairly close to the islands. Sometimes it might take a while to find the whales though, other days not so long. We used Whaleswim and Dolphin Pacific Diving to see and swim with the whales. They usually picked up people from Blue Lagoon as well. The guy at Blue Lagoon should be able to recommend an operator too if you haven't already booked a swim or sight seeing with the whales. Have fun.

[tillmanf]

Good statement in the end - stop whaling! However, we also have to be very careful not to harrass the whales. If we feel more and more comfortable close to them accidents can happen and whales will be the ones who pay for this.

[LNwolf87]

Amazing!

[linlalila]

This has literally been a dream of mine since the second grade. I have always been so moved and fascinated by humpback whales and worry about their future...

The legality and ethic of swimming with whales is an issue, but the Tongan government realizes that the money brought into the economy from tourists can deter people from hunting them.

[NEIAFUsHANDSOME]

THEY SOMETIMES CATCH COMMERCIAL FISHING BOATs FROM ASIA (JAPAN) "ILLEGALLY FISHING" IN THESE WATERs!!

SAVE THESE WHALEs

[bavaria1970]

let them swim dont eat them you dirty fucks

[TheOceaniaProject]

Beautifully done! T&W*****

[thestarduster]

Humpbacks are awesome...more friendly to swim with than a lot of dolphin species too

[amitmit]

were u using autofocus?

[shaggerb]

Yes. Most of the time. Wasn't sure it would work  very well but most of the time it was fine. Manually focusing was tricky.

[efairhurst]

fantastic!

[smokinbennixon]

good statement at the end!