Friends of the Sea

Your heart beat pounds, the anticipation builds, and a silence falls over the ocean as a deep low breath expels breaking the surface. The skipper yells ‘Go!’ as we slip inelegantly into the water. Encompassed by a deep blue, with shards of light beaming into the abyss, we swim towards the shadowy outline of a colossus. Closer and closer the indistinct apparition transforms into a realization as we come face to face with one of the planets largest inhabitants, the Humpback Whale.

Despite their enormity Humpback Whales are remarkably graceful and agile. They move effortlessly through strong currents and across rough seas, at times appearing motionless as they hover beneath the surface. Watching silently on the surface the only noise is the amplified sound of breathing through your own snorkel. Underwater encounters with Humpbacks can sometimes feel like they are happening in slow motion and time stands still as hours feel like minutes.

Swimming with Humpback Whales is an audio visual experience. It is quite rare to be in the water within close proximity of a singing Humpback, however on 3 occasions during the season I was privileged enough to spend time with a mother and calf, accompanied by an escort that was singing profusely only metres below. The feeling of your entire body vibrating from the inside out is such a unique experience and one I always find hard to describe.

The mother hovers, the calf plays and the escort hangs deeper down singing his song, as we are privy to a performance of operatic proportions. From a behavioural point of view we were witnessing uncharted territory as often singers are portrayed with head down, stationary, deep below the surface, but on these occasions the escort was swimming around the female or ascending towards the surface while the song reverberated through the ocean currents.

Being exposed to a myriad of whale activity you occasionally see something that is not typical or something you would not normally associate with wild animals. But since whales are mammals like us you would also assume that there are characteristics that reflect our own personality traits. One amazing morning, when the sun was bright and the ocean was calm I encountered a mother, calf and escort that were moving closely together. The fascinating thing was that the mother and the escort were physically touching each other as they gracefully glided beneath us. There was a sense of emotional attachment between the mother and escort. Often you get the feeling that the escort is tolerated or there is no real connection between the two but the relationship was strong and the attachment personified one of love. It was amazing to see such a unique correlation between the three whales.

We usually only think about the relationship between these animals in terms of a mother and her baby or the bond between siblings, but often there is a real connection between humans and intelligent animals such as Humpbacks. I encounter this one calf that progressively went from curious and distant to friendly and physical over a period of 2 months. Calves are very curious but are always under the watchful eye of their mother.

However, this mother and calf were quite different. Not only was she the largest humpback whale I had ever seen by far, the baby was the most interactive individual I had ever experienced. The first time I came across this calf he glided past me inching closer and closer with every pass. At one point he slid his pectoral fin across my hand, and within an instant a resting mother shot open her eyes and gave me a look, which I immediately understood. I was so amazed at how in tune she was with her environment and it was clear how protective she was of her baby. As time went on over the few months the mother became less alarmed as the baby became even more physical. This whale became so use to human contact that it almost craved it and you could see intention in his actions each time people would swim with this particular whale. I would never condone the practice of touching wild animals and it is a sad realization that one day this connection between humans and whales may be to their detriment.

Studying whale behaviour gives us a glimpse into their world but there is always something unexpected that makes you question their actions. And sometimes it is even laughable. I recall taking a group of swimmers into the water one time with the whales. Now the aim is to get in the water and swim in the direction you last saw the whale and as you get closer you start to see an outline of a dark mass just below the surface that looks out of place with the rest of the blue water around, and then you know you are heading in the right direction. On this occasion we were swimming towards the shadow and as we got closer the shadow appear to be a yellowy cloud and upon a second look I realized what had happened. The whale had shit on us and we were swimming straight through it. It was definitely a first for me, and I assumed almost immediately that it would probably be a last. But like the myth about lightning I was struck again by the same whale about 10 minutes later when I took my next group in, low and behold I was shat on again.

It’s amazing what whales will do when they are in the water interacting with humans, I am certain they realize that we are slow, not very agile and are really no threat to them. They often just ignore us and continue to do the things that whales do. I was in the water with two photographers and as we swam towards the whale all of a sudden we heard this massive splash and immediately put our heads up to see the tail end of a breach. Shortly after, the whale breached again in full view. Now, watching a 40 ton whale propel itself from the water is a sight to see but being only 20 metres away from a breaching whale could have devastating consequences to a 90kg human.

Although, there are situations when you are probably best to get out of the water. These include times where two or more males are fighting over a female. Almost every time I have been in the water with Humpback whales they appear to be moving slowly, graceful and infrequently at any great pace. However when it comes to competition for a female I have seen Humpback whales move at speeds that rival dolphins. During one display of male dominance, I recall swimming towards the mother and calf to take a photo and then having two whales bubble netting in front of us to cut off our path to the female. It was amazing that even we little humans were considered competition.

But it is not surprising, whales can be quite protective, usually it is the mother being protective of her new born calf but often it can be a male protecting the female. Towards the end of the season we encountered that same confident calf that had a tendency to make physical contact with people. Only this time the mother had an escort. The escort seemed very interested in the female and was not concerned about us getting too close to the calf, but each time I swam towards the female, the adult male would literally come between us and the female. On a few occasions he even carefully put his pectoral fin across my legs to indicate that there was no way I was getting closer to the female than I already was. Even the mother showed little concern for her calf. Presumably this was because they had been in the area for over 2 months and had probably had multiple swims with a number of tourists that she felt there was no immediate threat.

There was one final encounter that was fascinating to say the least. In the distance we spotted a calf breaching in rapid succession. As we approached, the calf continued to breach but at the same time was curious about us. As we got in the water we noticed some peculiar behaviour from the mother, she was vertical with her head down and her tail was semi above the surface. She literally hung her tail there for about 15 minutes as the calf continued to play. It was remarkable to watch in and out of the water.

The enormity of these creatures is often unfathomable until you get in the water and you are up close and personal. There is nothing more humbling than spending time with a humpback whale. It is the ultimate wildlife encounter and through my preaching’s I often encourage many people to give this life changing activity a go. It is addictive, so don’t be surprised if you come back wanting more. Year number 6 here I come.

The operation follows strict guidelines and the whales are never in distress. The tour operator Rae Gill is a conservationist and plays a pivotal role in educating the community about the importance of protecting these valuable resources. WhaleSwim Adventures is committed to whale conservation and fully supports the non-harassment policies of the Whale watching Guidelines in place in Tonga. They also support the implementation of the South Pacific Whale Sanctuary and of course, a World Whale Sanctuary. Email: tours@whaleswim.com website: www.whaleswim.com

All international flights to Tonga fly via Auckland, New Zealand; Nadi Fiji; Apia, Samoa, or Sydney Australia. The airlines are Polynesian Airlines and Air Pacific who are members of the One World group and Air New Zealand who is a member of the Star Alliance group. You can also fly Royal Tongan Airlines daily out of Auckland and every Thursday & Monday out of Sydney, Australia. After arriving in Tonga (Tongatapu) you will need to get a 1.15hour domestic flight to the island of Vava'u to join the WhaleSwim Adventure expeditions.