Swimming with giant humpback whales

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

VAVA'U, Tonga (AFP) — The southern humpback whale lies suspended vertically near the surface just metres away from me, its ghostly white underside silhouetted against the deep blue of the Pacific Ocean.

The giant mammal is nearly 16 metres (50 feet) long and weighs around 3.5 tonnes, but a gentle flick of its huge tail is enough to propel it gracefully back into the deep, leaving me bobbing on the surface.

My first experience of swimming with whales in waters off the northern Tongan island of Vava'u lasts only several minutes. Although a pair of adult humpbacks are still around, I want to sit somewhere quiet on the boat for a few minutes to store the astonishing encounter in my mind.

Later, I slip back into the water, a minnow next to the gentle giant that...