Humpback tailswipes snorkellers in defence

I've seen humpbacks smacking tails, lift a woman up and gently put her back down. But I guess a mother's protective instinct is strong.. and people ought to be smarter than to approach a sleeping mother and calf. Lessons learnt the hard way.

Mother humpback smacks 2 divers to protect her calf.

ouch ...

.. but i still wanna go to the DR to see this for myself ...

maybe turks ... still looks cool .. even if painfull.

giles

But you've already been in the water with humpbacks... up close and personal too. How lucky you drifted into one.

Ouch again....

Thats why we should listen to the Japanese government and have them all killed to research why accidents like this can happen.

When I was in Rurutu a male turned his back to me and tried to hit me (twice I guess I am a slow learner) with his tail, scared the @#%# out of me

Too bad, but that was gonna happen someday. A mother with calf, and the male nearby as well, the reaction of the mother when the snorkellers drifted too close was hardly surprising. It could have been worse - either or both of the people involved could have been killed. Their attitude about it seems ok.

Did anyone else listen to the whole video?

the last line cracked me up:

Interviewer: "thanks for sharing your tale with us" get it ...sharing your tail with us..

The only thing that played was the forced Add. The Whale clip would not work with FireFox...got to luv those commercial news sites...

wags try clicking on the "Exclusive: Whale Breaks Man's Leg" text under the ad, safari opened the whale vid in a new window.

Got it now.

It always amazes me how the media milks stuff for as much as they can.

Ouch again....

 

Thats why we should listen to the Japanese government and have them all killed to research why accidents like this can happen.

I really hope you posted this in jest. These are sentient beings. The Japanese slaughter too many cetaceans as it is. This was an avoidable accident, they got too close to the whale and touched it causing it to spook. All the whale did was try to get away.

When I swam with sperm whales, the hardest thing about it was trying to stay away from them. They would come very close and try to interact with us. It is not a good idea to have physical contact with them.

When I swam with sperm whales, the hardest thing about it was trying to stay away from them. They would come very close and try to interact with us. It is not a good idea to have physical contact with them.

Hi,

Is this something that can be done relatively easily with a good chance of success? Not touching them, just seeing them! If so, where and when?

I know teh Arozes are pretty good, but have heard it is very hit and miss.

Simon, there are quite a few places besides Azores (which also has the permit issue). Dominica, Bonin Islands and NZ are also known Sperm whale waters. There are definitely others but I'd be killed if I divulged those locations.

I've seen humpbacks smacking tails, lift a woman up and gently put her back down. But I guess a mother's protective instinct is strong.. and people ought to be smarter than to approach a sleeping mother and calf on open circuit. Lessons learnt.

 

Mother humpback smacks 2 divers to protect her calf.

I know the article refered to them as 'divers' but it looked like they were snorkeling to me.

Cheers, Simon

Simon, there are quite a few places besides Azores (which also has the permit issue). Dominica, Bonin Islands and NZ are also known Sperm whale waters. There are definitely others but I'd be killed if I divulged those locations.

Killed?!?!?! Well gosh darn Drew, for the sake of us getting a sperm whale encounter we might be willing to sacrifice the professor.. Spill it!

In NZ you can't get in the water with the whales, not sure about Dominica, Tony Wu has a great story on Sperms in Bonin.

Killed?!?!?! Well gosh darn Drew, for the sake of us getting a sperm whale encounter we might be willing to sacrifice the professor.. Spill it!

 

In NZ you can't get in the water with the whales, not sure about Dominica, Tony Wu has a great story on Sperms in Bonin.

you need a permit in Dominica. Not easy to get and costs $3000. Boat costs about $ 1000 per day. There is a resident population of sperm whales, but you need a photo receptive pod. we had 2 days that were productive out of 6. The whales initiate the contact. There a re a few that really like to interact with people. One of them, called Acar is like a puppy. He likes to get really close. We were snorkling and a few of us used re-breathers. no scuba. Bubbles scare them away.

I bet she had a whale of a time.