When A Giant Whale Refuses To Leave A Diver Alone, She Realizes He Is Trying To Communicate With Her.

Whales, despite their enormous size, are among the most mysterious and poorly understood organisms on the planet.

We humans are mesmerized by the juxtaposition of their massive size and usually calm, serene nature. Despite our continuous attraction to these captivating marine mammals, there is still much we don’t know about their behavior and biology.

A dramatic interaction between a seasoned marine biologist and a humpback whale in the Cook Islands in the South Pacific helps to highlight just how much we still don’t know about these gentle giants – and has sent shockwaves throughout the scientific world in the process.

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Nan Hauser 

Nan Hauser, a 63-year-old marine researcher, has dedicated her life to studying, researching, and assisting whales.

She was born in Maine and has spent the last three decades traveling the world to chronicle and preserve as many whales as she can by campaigning for their rights and protection.

Swimming with whales regularly is one of the pleasures of this line of work, but while she was used to paddling alongside these aquatic monsters, nothing could have prepared her for what would happen on this particular routine swim.

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Her Routine Swim

Nan was swimming off the coast of Rarotonga in late July, accompanied by a research vessel and under the watchful eye of her colleagues. They were tracking her progress by eye and with a drone.

Nan was filming her swim near a small pod of humpback whales with a waterproof camera.

A male humpback whale, perhaps weighing over 23 tonnes and measuring at least 50 feet in length, began swimming toward her as she was shooting.

Nan was well aware that this was not typical conduct.

Unusual Behavior

While swimming with whales, Nan is usually the one that approaches the animal to watch its behavior. But something was different this time. She recognized she wouldn’t be able to avoid the monster as it approached her, and as it drew closer, she wouldn’t be able to get out of its way.

She continued to picture the whale, focusing her optics on it as it approached head-on. She had no idea what it was up to, but she was unconcerned for the time being. That, however, would soon change.

Something isn’t right.

Nan is perhaps the most knowledgeable person on swimming with whales. It’s an important aspect of her job, and something she’s done hundreds, if not thousands, of times over her career as a conservator and marine biologist.

So she realized she was in trouble when she was perplexed by the whale’s conduct.

The closer the whale got, the more obvious it became that something wasn’t right.

Whales generally swim by humans, oblivious to their presence. But this one had his attention fixed on her and was heading towards her in a straight line.

He didn’t stop even after slamming into her and pinning her on his head.

The Fight for Her Life

The whale continued to slam against Nan as she tried to flee, forcing her further and further away from the boat.

Nan tried to go to one side, then the other, but the whale seemed adamant about not letting up. She couldn’t do anything. Despite her years of working with whales, she had never heard of anything remotely close to this, much less experienced it herself – not that she could think of anything else to do. Even if the whale didn’t want to hurt Nan directly, the force of its motions was enough to cause pain.

The Power of a Whale

Nan knows everything there is to know about whales. As the whale kept pushing her through the water, she realized how damaging a misstep or a  powerful push could be to her body.

A moderate impact from a humpback whale might break bones and harm her internal organ if the animal kept acting the way it did.

Nan was terrified of something else the whale could do.

Keep your distance from the sides.

Nan was being driven by the whale’s head, but she was aware that one false move could place her in the path of the whale’s other, far more hazardous and strong appendages: his flippers and tail.

Even while humpback whales aren’t known for being violent, they are powerful animals and one wrong move, an unintentional hit by a flipper or tail, may knock Nan unconscious and leave her to die.

But, even as Nan knew how terrible her position was, there was always hope. She was putting together a strategy.

Maintaining Her Calm

Because humpback whales don’t have teeth but instead have sheets of soft baleen in their mouth, staying near the whale’s head was probably the safest place for her to be.

Despite this, Nan knew she needed to get as far away from the whale as possible.

Nan had to remain as calm and collected as possible to accomplish this. However, if the whale detected any change in her behavior, he might adjust his own, something she wasn’t ready to risk.

A Terrifying Situation

Nan is terrified of spiders, as everyone who knows her knows. She loves to joke that while she is fearful of a small, delicate animal that she can simply sweep away with her fingers, she is not afraid to swim with large, powerful marine animals that could easily crush her if they so choose.

Nan was still terrified at this moment, tied to the head of an unpredictable humpback whale.

Everything she knew about whale behavior told her that what she was seeing shouldn’t be happening – but was she alone in her experience? or might her fellow passengers on the boat sense something wasn’t right?

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Documenting

Despite her precarious predicament Nan decided to continue documenting and photographing the whale as she attempted to flee.

Nan became nauseated with the fear that she might be filming her death as her camera proceeded to record the events.

Nan’s pals and crew onboard the research vessel were using their drone to track the disturbing event. They could see something wasn’t right, but they couldn’t do anything about it. All they could do was stand there and wait – and pray.

Unwitting Bystander

When the whale began pulling Nan away, she wasn’t the only one in the water.

Her diving companion, on the other hand, lacked her experience and didn’t share her grasp of cetacean behavior. They didn’t see anything was wrong, and Nan couldn’t express that she needed help because she was attempting to keep her movements calm.

Even if she had been able to do so, the second diver would have been unable to assist.

Nan was on her own.

There are no signs that things are going to slow down.

Nan’s whale assailant pushed her further and further away. Nan was establishing a space between herself and her research vessel, and she would soon be out on the wide ocean.

It’s hard to put into words how unique this kind of action is. Nan would normally avoid touching whales when dealing with them. But this whale wasn’t simply brushing up against her; he was keeping contact and dragging her away from her boat.

To make matters worse, they looked to have company after a time.

Another massive aquatic creature emerged from the depths.

Another Humpback Whale 

Nan could see another humpback whale off in the distance.

Because humpback whales are sociable animals, seeing another of the massive creatures close wasn’t surprising – however, like the whale that was shoving Nan, this whale’s conduct was out of the ordinary.

Nan could tell it was acting strangely, too, but she couldn’t figure out why.

Retaliation

Nan could not really help but be perplexed by the second whale’s strange conduct, despite her dangerous circumstances.

It kept hitting the water’s surface with its tail and lashing out at something behind it every now and then.

Nan couldn’t figure out what was going on despite her years of knowledge with aquatic life.

One of the whales was pulling her out to sea, while the other was angry.

What exactly was going on?

Bruised and bumped 

The whole event had left Nan bruised.

The whale had been dragging her for more least ten minutes, and the harsh barnacles on its skin were scratching her body whenever it came into contact with her.

The whale’s motives were unclear, but whether it intended to injure her or not, she was getting a thrashing.

Something, though, eventually changed.

Nan realized what was going on when she observed the behavior of the second humpback whale.

The Whale Hadn’t Let Her Go.

Nan suddenly understood what he was doing. She could see what was causing the whale to behave in such an unusual manner.  She realized she was in a life-threatening scenario.

She needed to flee as soon as possible if she wanted to live.

The humpback whale was not interested in letting her go.

Waters of Predation

Nan could now see what was causing the second whale to lash out with its tail off in the distance: a tiger shark.

Tiger sharks, also known as man-eating sharks, are dangerous, vicious predators – and this one was far larger than typical, measuring more than 15 feet in length.

The whales weren’t attacking Nan; they were trying to protect her from the hazardous predator.  Understanding the whales’ habits, however, could not ensure her safety.

Nan’s life remained in jeopardy.

Tiger Shark

When people think about shark attacks, the image that most people have in mind is of a great white shark, like the one from Jaws. Despite being bigger and more powerful than tiger sharks, great white shark attacks are rare – and easier to manage.

While great white sharks are notorious for taking one large bite out of their meal and then fleeing, tiger sharks are infamous for attacking their victims repeatedly.

Nan and her dive partner were now within striking distance of a particularly huge tiger shark.

Nan pulled as hard as she could away from the humpback whale and dashed to the boat, knowing what the whale was trying to protect her from.

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Onboard safely

Thankfully, Nan and her dive companion were able to get away from the whales and make it to their boat just in time.

Nan informed the crew that a large tiger shark was stalking the waters surrounding them as she climbed on board between gasps for breath.

Nan, on the other hand, was not afraid when her pulse slowed.

She was ecstatic.

She realized the whales were attempting to save her, not harm her after she learned what had transpired. Nan could see something spectacular in the sea as if in response.

Are you okay?

Nan walked to the ship’s balcony as she struggled to her feet.

The male humpback whale who had attempted to save her from the shark was there, calmly waiting. It seemed concerned as if it wanted to make sure Nan was okay before returning to sea.

When it realized Nan was secure, it released a single burst of water from its blowhole and sank back beneath the waters. Nan sank to the boat’s stern to watch her marine companion swim off into the distance as if the whale was attempting to keep her safe.

Then, like a great scientist, she began piecing together the events.

Nan’s Hypothesis

Nan felt confident she knew the explanation behind the whale’s peculiar, uncommon behavior after reviewing footage from her and her buddy’s underwater cameras, the drone, and the deck.

Nan reasoned that the whale had kept her close to him to protect her from the shark that was lurking nearby.

This made sense given her knowledge of humpback whale behavior, but it was the first time she’d heard of, let alone observed, whales behaving in this manner with humans.

The Sea’s Heroes

Humpback whales are a strange and poorly known species, yet they are well-documented.

Nan was able to put her experience in context thanks to the vast amount of information on humpback whales that had been accumulated.

In 2016, research collated over 115 documented incidents of humpback whales actively working to save their offspring, dating back over 60 years, as well as members of other species such as dolphins and seals.

Nonetheless, Nan’s case was exceptional.

Unprecedented

Humpback whales have a long history of assisting other creatures in perilous situations, according to researchers. For example, marine researcher Robert Pitman once saw a humpback whale hurl a seal out of the water to save it from a pod of killer whales. 

While whales have been known to assist other creatures, this would be the first time they have assisted a person.

While Nan was certain that this was what had happened, her theory was questioned by several in the scientific community.

Making a splash in the scientific world

The scientific world was split in two when Nan’s account began to circulate.

Some people thought Nan’s theory was correct, while others argued it was difficult to know what the humpback’s genuine intentions were.

Some speculated that the whale was acting in this fashion for numerous reasons and that the shark’s presence in the water was irrelevant.

Nan, on the other hand, was adamant.

Allowing the video to speak for itself

Nan’s entire ordeal was captured on film from numerous perspectives. Nan’s documentation, shot on her camera, including the drone video, the accompanying diver’s camera work, and the boat.

Nan believed it was impossible to disprove her theory with the abundance of data.

Nan believes that this type of behavior is part of a larger phenomenon that has been studied extensively in the field of animal ecology.

Animal Compassion

While it may be tempting to use terms like “compassionate” or “empathetic” to describe the humpback whale who had saved Nan, Nan chooses her words carefully.

She avoids using human language to describe the whale’s conduct, instead referring to it as “altruistic.”

There is a distinction between compassion and altruism, and while compassion is a human feeling that can be debated whether it exists in non-human creatures, altruism has been thoroughly documented in numerous species and has several socio-biological causes.

Emotion and instinct

Various variables distinguish compassionate and altruistic acts, according to marine scientist Robert Pitmas.

Humans frequently protect animals from harm out of compassion, but other animals’ altruistic behavior can have other motivations.

It’s possible that the humpback acted out of compassion to protect Nan, but it’s more likely that its actions were motivated by a desire to protect its children, which Nan had reminded him of.

But, as we’ll see shortly, blaming everything on instinct is tricky.

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Another Strange Occurrence

Nan was diving off the coast of Rarotonga four days after her terrifying encounter with the male humpback whale.

It was simply another day when she noticed a humpback approaching – this time a female whale.

Nan looked at the female whale, filled with awe and reverence, curious to see what would happen next.

A Whale of a Hug

The female humpback whale swam 4 feet under Nan and then did something Nan had never seen before.

She spread her pectoral fins around her as if hugging her!

It just so happened that that day was Nan’s birthday – and she couldn’t have asked for a better gift.

Twice within the space of 5 days, the whales that she had dedicated her life to save had shown her love and care, as no one had ever seen before.

Nan Hauser’s story remains baffling and strange – but it’s impossible to deny just how moving it is.