Amazing Footage Shows A Humpback Whale Protect A Diver From A Shark

January 8, 2018

A 50,000-pound humpback whale protected a diver from a nearby shark and the heart-stopping moment was captured on video.

Caters News

Marine biologist Nan Hauser was examining a whale off Muri Beach, Rarotonga, of the Cook Islands.

The whale suddenly began to push Hauser with his head and his mouth to the surface and even tucked her under its pectoral fin. Unbeknownst to Hauser, a 15-foot tiger shark was lurking nearby — and the whale clearly understood the danger.

The footage captured Hauser coming to the surface and shouting that there was a shark nearby. Out of shot, another whale was persistently tail slapping and keeping the shark away from Hauser and the whale that was pushing her.

As Hauser returned to the boat the whale even surfaced to check on her.

Scientists have seen cases of whales protecting other species but this is the first documented case where they've actually protected humans.

Hauser said the incident is proof of the whale's intuitive nature to protect other species. She compared this to firemen being willing to rush into a burning home to help save the lives of strangers.

Caters News

"I wasn't sure what the whale was up to when he approached me, and it didn't stop pushing me around for over 10 minutes. It seemed like hours," Hauser said.

"I've spent 28 years underwater with whales, and have never had a whale so tactile and so insistent on putting me on his head, or belly, or back, or, most of all, trying to tuck me under his huge pectoral fin."

Hauser says she had never seen the whale before she entered the water that day.

"It's funny how the tables are turned here: I've spent the past 28 years protecting whales, and in the moment, I didn't even realise that they were protecting me!"

Watch the video below.