A Diver’s Terrifying Encounter With a Humpback Whale Makes Waves in the Scientific Community

Whales are fascinating animals. Not only are they the largest on Earth, but they are also one of the most widespread and can be found in oceans all across the world. They live in an environment beyond our perception, deep below the ocean’s surface—so while everyone might know about them, very few actually get to see them.

Meet Nan Hauser. She’s a notable figure in the field of marine biology and conservation. For decades, she has devoted her days to studying whales, dolphins, porpoises, and other cetaceans. As well as keeping track of their population and studying their behavior, she’s been fighting for their rights and protecting them from human activity, particularly whales.

In September 2017, Nan took a dive near the shore of Rarotonga, an island in the South Pacific. She was accompanied by a ship that tracked her path and sighted her moves via drone—just another typical day—until strange movements were picked up in the water ahead.

She was too busy trying to get a good shot of the creature to notice how fast and how close it was coming. By the time she realized, it was already too late to get out of its way. She stood her ground—or water—and waited to see what would happen next. 

Instinctively, Nan tried to swim back towards her vessel. Each time she made a move towards it, she was pushed away. There was no way out of the situation and no time to figure out what the whale was trying to say with its strange behavior. 

For several minutes the humpback wouldn’t stop bumping Nan with a closed mouth. The whale dragged her away from the boat and covered her under its fin. Nan tried to back up, but the whale was too large and too strong.

Over and over, she felt it bump against her. One good hit would have potentially broken her bones and ruptured her internal organs. She felt immeasurably fragile in the shadow of this mighty creature.

She thought the best course of action would be to stay still. If she stayed put, there was a chance that the whale would lose interest and stop its ramming.  Nan tried not to make any sudden movements and played dead as best she could.

The whale did not relent, but the stillness gave Nan time to think. After gathering her wits, she tried to position herself nearer to the whale’s head. This was the place furthest from the most dangerous place—the whale’s tail and flippers.

Nan used to joke that she was more afraid of creepy-crawlies and little things with wings over large, powerful creatures like whales. Here at the mercy of this colossal underwater creature, she was beginning to entertain a newfound fear.

As the whale continued to butt her further out into the ocean, she continued to hit the shutter on her camera. At least, she thought, I’ll get some good pictures out of this experience. Nan wasn’t completely alone under the waves. She was accompanied by another less experienced diver. 

Meanwhile, back on the boat, the crew was becoming concerned. They could tell that something was wrong, but just like Nan, they were powerless to do anything about it.

The suspense was unbearable. To make things worse,  Hauser spotted another humpback whale approaching from a distance. Just like the first, it was coming in fast.

The second whale broke off and headed to the surface, where it repeatedly smashed its tail against the waves. More odd behavior. She had never seen whales acting so aggressively and so spontaneously.

Humpback whales sometimes travel to the South Pacific during winter months to breed and rear their young. They live in groups, or pods, to help defend their calves from predators. But Nan didn’t see any calves around either of the whales.

After only ten minutes of respite, the first whale rammed into her again. Its barnacles bounded her like knuckles, leaving her bruised and sore. Nan was running out of strength.

The whale hadn’t been trying to push Nan away. It was trying to keep Nan close. Suddenly, it all made sense. She turned her fears away from the whale and onto the shadow on the other side of its body.

Nan finally saw the cause of the two whales’ agitation—it was a tiger shark. The whales weren’t trying to hurt her. They were trying to protect her from a greater threat—and it was heading straight for her.

Many people believe that great white sharks are the most dangerous kind of shark. But this is not so. The chances of being bitten by a great white shark are probably smaller than you think. 

With the two whales’ combined effort, the shark was distracted enough for Nan and her companion to make it to the side of the boat. While she was climbing aboard, the marine biologist told her co-workers about the tiger shark close by.

Even after the pair were safely aboard, the whale stuck around. It patrolled around the boat, presumably to make sure the shark was nowhere near. After a few moments, the humpback whales returned to the sea. 

To Nan, this was more than an experience. It was a discovery. She had learned something about the creatures. Not only that, but she had evidence to back her up.

Humpback whales are omnivores. They don’t usually attack other sea creatures. On the contrary, whales are known for protecting other species of whales, dolphins, and seals. In fact, a scientific paper describing the phenomenon of humpback whales protecting other species of animals was recently published.

Other marine biologists were fascinated by Nan’s experience. They found her experience compelling. Most believed that her conclusion about the humpback’s selfless behavior was correct. While many scientists have long observed altruistic behavior from whales, many remain skeptical of Hauser’s experience.

Though some critics may disagree with her conclusions, Hauser is confident in her own research and trusts her own instincts. Her close encounter with the humpback whales and the tiger shark was rare. Fortunately, as three different cameras captured the incident, her story comes with a good deal of credibility.

All of Nan’s experiences were captured on film—from multiple viewpoints. There was footage from her own camera, footage captured by the drone, and footage taken by the diver in the water with her, in addition to various other angles caught from the research vessel.

While it may seem like the whale had saved Nan out of compassion, the use of the word “compassion” has specific connotations in the scientific world. Nan wanted to avoid a debate, so she chose her words carefully. Instead, she called the whales “altruistic”.

When asked by National Public Radio, Pitman stated that there are different factors in compassionate and altruistic behavior. “When a human protects an imperiled individual of another species, we call it compassion. If a humpback whale does so, we call it instinct. But sometimes the distinction isn’t all that clear.”

After she almost lost her life, Nan Hauser returned to the water, confident, knowing that help was always around if she needed it. The sun was shining, boats were in the water, and she was once again diving off the shores of Rarotonga. Then suddenly, she saw a familiar figure approaching.

The marine biologist cautiously observed, hoping for a clue as to what she was going to do next. It swam towards her, four feet away, and then did something that made her gasp. The whale opened her pectoral fins as if to hug her.

The Cook Islands are now designated as an international whale sanctuary, partly thanks to the work of Nan Hauser. For many years Nan worked to restrict commercial whaling in the country’s 772,000 square miles territorial waters.