In Georgia Strait, British Colombia two boaters had a rare intimate close-up moment with a humpback whale.
They managed to capture the whole thing on camera, they were treated to several slightly nerve-wracking whale behaviours.
Lauren Lan, the boat owner said, “It was really very cool to just look right beside the boat and see the whole length of the whale and see all the little barnacles up close,”.
When the whale was slapping the water with its fin it was all fun and games but as soon as it started to swim under the boat Lauren and her friend Sonja started to get nervous.
Sonja can her heard saying, “Does he think we’re his girlfriend,”.
An accidental foot on the bilge pump made a mechanical noise which in turn drove the whale away and out of sight.
10 years ago this sighting would have been unimaginable as when the humpback whales population was smaller they would never stray far from Mexico or Hawaii. However, over the past 50 years, they have made an incredible recovery.
Lauren shared, “I don’t know how you would know this, you’re never really that close, but humpback whales stink,” so they name the gentle giant “stinky”.
Scientists say the stench can be blamed on their diet of krill.
Whale-watching guidelines state you can’t go within 100 meters of the giants but, whales can’t read and sometimes break this rule. So while up-close encounters are fairly rare, they aren’t unheard of.
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