Kissed by a whale

You can't get much closer to a whale than this! I was filming dolphins underwater fifteen miles off Bermuda in late April when this humpback whale swam up to me. It boggles my mind that this was a wild, fifty-foot male humpback whale who seemed intensely interested in me. Perhaps he was sex-starved, hormone driven, or maybe just curious, but he certainly seduced me. For a week I couldn't sleep after this two-hour encounter where the whale almost kissed me, embraced me with his pectoral fins, casually passed his massive tail flukes within inches of me. He repeatedly swam under me and remained motionless about a foot or so underneath as if listening to my heartbeat. What kept me awake afterwards was the question: Why had he done this, what was he thinking? What was going on in that huge brain of his? I thought he might be a 'friendly', a whale that habitually mugs boats, but we haven't been able to identify him by his flukes. There was another whale with him which I did manage to identify: a whale photographed once before, thirty years ago in Newfoundland. Since this experience I've become passionate about humpbacks and I sleep with whales every night, dreaming about them. And I still am trying to figure out what that whale was thinking about. Was he trying to communicate? The high-definition camera has a 140 degree field of field of view, almost a fish-eye lens, and when the whale 'kissed' me, he was literally inches from the camera. The experience was intense and I found it difficult to talk about it for a month afterwards without becoming emotional.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• whales
• humpbacks
• humpack
• whale
• cetaceans
• aquatic
• north
• atlantic
• free
• diving
• sleeping
• with
• kissed
• by
• hormone-driven
• sex-starved
• humpback
• underwater
• bermuda
• andrew
• stevenson
• wildlife
• marine
• fluke
• watching
• migration
• dolphins
• japanese
• whaling
• sea
• shepherd
• greenpeace
• antiwhaling
• Japanese
• swimming
• orcas

[EasternSeaWolf]

It must feel so amazing to be that close!

[awstevenson]

It was totally amazing, beyond words to describe!

[soppins]

Aww that Humpback whale is so cute :] <3 your so lucky :D xDD

Beautiful animals whales are =]

so lovely and gentle natured amazing footage, what a great experience that must have been for you! =]

[SallyAlbatross]

Lovely Humback whale!

[OrcaLove13]

Holly cow, thats amazing, they say if you look into a whales eye it can give you a second of true emotional connection maybe this whale noticed something in you that no-one else could, i know it sounds crazy but its possible and true. I bet this was an amazing experience and I hope to have the same experience with a humpback in the shetland isles in the UK :D

[TheMorningToker]

Truly an amazing story. Im glad to know you shared it with the world on camera.

[TheMorningToker]

If this truly did happen, the humpback whale is your spiritual guide. There is a reason the whale appeared to you.

[dIOkaroOIb]

Did u feel fear anytime? Or u felt "Everything is ok"?

[medini2]

Was your heart racing? i nearly had a panic attack (or did) when a very large barracuda and friends came up to me & my son while snorkeling at St. John's, Cinnamon Bay. Whales totally different than barracudas,though. Awesome video, thanks.

[AquarielCharm]

So Beautiful.

[Dirtfire]

Humpback whale brains are much bigger than that of a human's, and scientists have recently come around to the conclusion that brain-size relative to body-size really doesn't matter. It's absolute brain-size that counts.

[inuyashajr]

you got to take me to see the m i raealy want to see them up close