Swimming with giants

On 7 October 2015, I realised a life-long dream to swim alongside a humpback whale.

I'd already travelled to Tahiti three times in the previous four years, but as I was there during the Australian summer, I wasn't privy to the amazing whale migration that takes place in the warm waters of French Polynesia each year. Between the months of June and October, the female humpback whales leave the plankton-rich waters of the Antarctic to have their babies, resting in the protected waters around the islands of French Polynesia. So this time I did my homework and arranged my 2015 visit to coincide the with annual whale migration.

My first destination was the island of Rurutu - a small makatea in the Austral Islands, around 570km south of the capital, Papeete. Despite being known as the "whale island", luck was not with me as no whales appeared during the three days I spent in this tiny piece of heaven. Rurutu does no cater to tourists in the way that Bora Bora and Moorea does, but what it lacks in amenities, it makes up for in beauty. The island is made up of steep cliffs of ancient coral which have risen up out of the seabed. The island is only 32.75 sq kms, but the caves are amazing, the scenery stunning and the people friendly. I usually stay in hotel/resort style accommodation, but as accommodation is somewhat limited on an isla​​nd of this size, I had my first (and definitely not my last) experience in a pension (a bed and breakfast for those, like me, who don't speak French). I stayed at Pension Teautamatea which was a real treat But I digress, for more on Rurutu, see my blog post here (link to come).

The weather was not cooperating, as El Nino made an early appearance in the South Pacific this season. My next attempt to swim with the whales was in Bora Bora on 6 October 2015 when I spent the morning with Simon from Tohora Bora Bora. There were only 5 passengers, and the boat was modern and new, but the seas were rough and the whales were saw were on a mission and not hanging around waiting for anxious tourists to jump in the water with them! We travelled half way to Maupiti just to keep up with these fast moving giants. Earlier in the day, we hung out with some black tip reef sharks before we got the call that so humpbacks had been sighted further out...

I was starting to feel a little sad - with only one day left of three weeks in French Polynesia, and my dream of swimming with a humpback whale felt almost out of reach. I had one more opportunity, but given my experience with the weather and the seemingly uncooperative whales, I wasn't holding out any great hope. I was on the final day of a 10 day Princess Cruise around the islands, and I had pre-booked a whale watching tour with Dr Michael Poole - a renowned Marine Biologist based in Moorea. My feeling of unease was compounded by the fact that I had previously booked to go out on Dr Poole's dolphin cruise three times prior to this trip, and it had been cancelled each time. Once due to lack of numbers, and twice due to bad weather. Would the fourth time prove to be lucky???

Dr Poole's boat is large, and it carries many passengers. I thought my best chance to swim with a humpback would be on a small, purpose-built boat (such as Tohora Bora Bora the day before) and I expected I would, at best, get some photos/video from the boat.

After an hour or so, Dr Poole's research assistant found the whales! We headed out past the huge surf waves at a gap in the reef and headed into the deep blue ocean. After many days of inclement weather, the sun was shining but the swell was still fairly high. We followed two male humpbacks for around 45 mins, and we caught glimpses of them between dips in the swell. Dr Poole strictly observes the rules around people boating and swimming near the whales and it appeared the whales were not staying still long enough for anyone to actually get close to them. I was desperately trying to get some footage of them from the boat when Dr Poole suddenly yelled "has anyone brought their snorkel gear?"

I jumped out of my seat with excitement! Out of over 40 people on the boat, only three people had snorkelling gear. It all happened extremely quickly and I was grabbing my snorkel gear, cameras etc while shedding clothes as I ran to the back of the boat. For our safety we were to be accompanied by Dr Poole's trusty deckhand, who ushered me to the ladder. The swell was big, and I had to try and slip into the water as quietly as possible so as not to disturb the whales. My excitement outweighed my fear, but being completely alone in open ocean in a large swell is no picnic.

There was little to see above the surface, but the moment I slipped below the waterlline, my entire field of vision was filled with bright blue ocean and an ENORMOUS male humpback whale. It was the most extraordinary thing I have ever seen, and something I will never forget for as long as I live.

In my hurry to enter the water, my mask strap had twisted and water started to flood my mask. The deckhand had not yet entered the water with the life-ring and the other two swimmers so I was desperately trying not to drown as I trod water and cleared my mask. Sadly, by the time I managed to get my GoPro recording, the whales were swimming away. The few seconds of video footage below is a reminder that it actually happened, but it will never capture the amazing experience. I will be forever grateful to Dr Michael Poole and his team for making it happen. :-)

#whales #tahiti #rurutu #frenchpolynesia #moorea #drmichaelpoole