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Tonga is the only country in the southern hemisphere where you can actually swim with Humpback whales. Every year, starting around June/July, thousand of whales undertake the longest migration known, crossing half of the world to meet near the island of Tonga.
Before this, the last time I had had the opportunity to see humpback whales was in Antarctica, but I had never had the opportunity to swim with them. We purposely decided to go early in the season, and so Craig Parry and I headed out to VavaŽu, Tonga in July. Going early in the season meant less whales, but also less tourists visiting those islands-a prime time if we were hoping to increase the quality of our interactions. And I have to tell you... we got really lucky.
Literally 3 minutes later, this young whale was swimming toward us, looking to play with us.
On day two, while we were swimming with a mother and cub, we noticed a lone teenage whale playing around. We slowly approached him and gently slipped into the water, hoping not to scare him. Literally three minutes later, this young whale was swimming toward us, looking to play with us.
A scary moment, you might say, when you realize that you canŽt fit this airplane-sized animal into your fisheye lens. When his nose and tail are about to touch you... missing by just a few centimeters. This whale would swim in front of us, roll next to us and swim under us, only a few centimeters from our fragile human body.
We understood that this animal meant no harm to us, and as this realization seeped in confidence replaced fear, and we literally spent the next 2 hours playing with this beautiful creature. Those two hours were magical, intimate, and powerful. Having previously shot whale sharks underwater, I didnŽt believe ...
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