Incredible, Loving, Humpack Whale playing with us in Tonga 

@@DavvyKat we had a Global treaty to not hunt whales. Only for scientific research. Japan took many more than for scientific research, but still claimed research. Not this species, but perhaps Minkes? Not for sure on species. Japan has now broken treaty about whales. I guess like Trump with Paris accord. Plus the man made noise in ocean can damage them. It just makes me nervous when they become acclimated to man, when in reality they could be hunted again at any time. I think this ones juvenile? She blinked her eye. There's someone home inside every being.

Yeah right this human needs to leave the whale alone and quit bothering this whale. Just like humans to think they like it. Selfish pieces of s***

@@user-mo8gw9om1z Do you think that we had any say in what the whale did? In 1 move she could have gone or bashed us. She kept coming back. This is the way we should be with other creatures, respect them and enjoy each others company.

Lisa Epperson, yes, they hunt minke and a few species of other small whales. They hunt them for their meat even though they often deny hunting them in large quantities for that purpose. They lie and say they need extravagant numbers for “research”. I never have believed their story. It’s a blatant lie they’re feeding the world.

@@davidbruce2559 gosh! Humanslookliketinylill Ants!tO MAJESTIC!🐳 GRANDIOSO WHALES!🐋💋🐳💋🐋🐳😇🙌 GOD BLESS! ALMIGHTY! MAJESTICALLY!🌊🙌🌊 BEAUTIFUL WHALES!🐳 HOW LOVING AND A GREAT! HUMBLING LOVE!

Lisa IsHappyToBeSane The turtles have been talking, the whales heard the stories, that’s why there are so many whale/diver interactions lately....

Seriously.. you may be right

I was thinking exactly that.

I doubt they can remove those by hands only.

There's probably stories going around about humans with those nimble fin thingys have freed marine life from fishing lines and nets.

Yeah, imagine he's never felt that either. It felt nice to him, so he wanted more.

@@cherrylanford188 exactly

I wonder if he wants to have those barnacles removed.

So do I, but I would recommend all to go to Eueiki Treasure Island resort on Vavau. Mark will guide you to the best Whale experience.

What color was her eyes.she seemed so interested in you....did u talk to her in ur head as u swam with her?

@@donnakawana Ha , yes we did talk to her. They were Blue.

I'm sure researchers have encountered them, too, and know how friendly they are. They would probably tell you to keep your distance and don't touch them. These encounters put them in danger. Humpbacks are amazing whales, and are known to save swimmers from sharks and other small sea mammals from Killer Whales.

They're remarkably intelligent

That would be great and scary at first. Until you know it's going to be ok.

IKR! My heart would stop for a second or two.

And that's just a baby

@@nape8198 Really? Damn! Incredible. I'm so in awe of these creatures.

@@nape8198 I wonder where Mama is.

@@juliew1426 megalodon 👀

Inked Skin Deep i thought it was just me!

Michell de Guzman i know right?!?! Ever seen the videos where remove barnicles from sea turtles? Its awsome!!

Maybe that’s what he wanted them to do

That's why the whales there just hoping. Like a dog with fleas wants to be scratched.

@@inkedskindeep9941 No it's not. The damage to the shell will cause the turtles to get sick. Barnacles do not affect the animals as much as we think.

It moved me, too! I felt a deep fear and at the same time incredible happiness and great respect! I wasn't even there to look in this eye personally, but that look really hit me...

Sarah Möller Ugh... I'm so jealous(in a good way).😊👍👍💖✌

Alex Anton whales are amazing, aren't they? 😍 They're such HUGE creatures that could easily hurt you with a push of their fin, but they're intelligent and gentle enough to move so carefully when humans are around. ♥

Sarah Möller Oh my... Yes!!! The way they act around humans is super cute and breathtaking. I love them😍💖👍👍

I kissed a bull shark once and apparently there is a specific bacteria that lives on their skin that isnt good for people. It made my lips swell up to almost exploding. Had to put Preparation H on my lips for days lol.

To be fair, up until the last century they had a lot of commercial uses that we didn’t have any alternatives for

Thank you, we think so too.

Well, yes but if he made these “beautiful “ creatures he also made scorpions, rats, black widow spiders, tape worms etc. I wonder why god would make a tape worm that can only live in the intestines of humans and cause them health problems? Think about it.

Than you for your comment. More than a year on and we still are enjoying this experience.

This is my dream to one day see these whales, swimming free. In Baja there are three lagoons where the grey whales actively seek interaction with humans, swimming right up to the boats to enjoy being touched and petted! They seem to especially love having their tongues and baleen massaged! Scientists have no explanation for this behavior which has been going on for approximately 40 years now. Thus is particularly fascinating given how cruelly they were slaughtered during the whaling industry. But these “friendly whales” are even teaching their babies to approach the boats, and at times the momma whale will lift her calf up on her back so the calf can get a better look at the humans! This is just truly remarkable and demonstrates an ability for these whales to be so forgiving and trusting of us humans. However, when these whales leave the lagoons on their migration to Alaska and vice versa, they do not show thus behavior- it only occurs in these three lagoons in Baja . I believe that there is a connection between whales and humans, and they are extremely perceptive. You obviously touched the whale you were swimming with on a much deeper level than most humans have the ability to- your souls and spirits connected that day. I do hope you go back, for I have no doubt that you will have this experience again. Do you have plans to go back to Tonga? I’m sure many people would look forward to seeing more of your incredible videos! Thank you so much for sharing this one...it’s absolutely THE best out there!

A poster suggested putting music to your video- if you do, perhaps an instrumental version of “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” would be appropriate...just a suggestion.

I took my friend out to see the whales, and when she saw them she cried too.

You know when I was filming this I was just holding the camera in the general direction but looking at the whale directly and not through the lens, if you know what I mean and the feeling you get when you look eye to eye with such a majestic animal knowing that neither is going to harm each other, is just indescribable. I have 30 mins of film but the whale stayed with us for 1 and 1/2 hours. We are still reliving those moments after almost 1 and 1/2 years agog that this took place. I can only hope that everyone should get such a moment once in their lives.

Fiddlestx2...Indeed..I never seen a whale's eye that close up. It truly gives me goosebumps every time I look at it. I must say I don't know how these majestic whales can trust us humans. Look at what we have done to them for so long. I'm perplexed.

You shouldn't be perplexed . . . after all it's not like the whales chat with each other about us humans and what wrongs people did to them throughout history. It is enough to know now, thanks to videos like this, that the whales look up to us, trust us and find us fascinating, showing their desire to interact with us in loving playful ways. It's like the Keller Laros incredible Dolphin video. The dolphin intelligently and instinctively knew that man could help him. With just the come here gesture of his fingers the Dolphin came right to him, trustingly presenting his entangled pectoral fin to Keller.. It takes time to teach a dog to respond to hand signals like that . . . even if you are skilled at teaching.

I wouldn’t be too sure that whales don’t communicate with each other about interactions they have had with humans in the past. When the whaling industry so cruelly slaughtered the grey whales in Scammions Lagoon in Baja, the mother whales retaliated by crushing the whaling boats with their tales. For some inexplicable reason, about 40 years ago a grey whale approached a fisherman, and brought her calf to his boat so he could touch it. Slowly, other whales started approaching boats of scientists trying to understand this behavior. The whales continued to seek interaction with humans. This activity only occurs in three lagoons in Baja. They are all protected World Heritage Sites and the “friendly whales” as they are now called are protected by strict laws. It is a very lucrative business for the fishermen to take tourists out on their pangas to see and touch these beautiful whales. The mother whales will bring their calves right up to the boats, sometimes lifting it on their backs so the calves have a better look at the humans. To me, it’s obvious that these whales do indeed communicate with each other.

I love hearing what you are sharing. My only sadness, is in thinking during the history of man slaughtering whales that it’s possible the whales approached them in the same manner, wanting to interact or show off their young. It’s heartbreaking to think in return they were killed. I love these beautiful animals!

It was smooth and slippery. At one point the whale was below me and turned upside down and came up, so I was stuck on its belly on the top of the water. That felt rubbery. We still cannot believe how friendly this whale was and it kept coming back for more attention.

Yes, It did, but I would not want to upset this massive beautiful beast. I wish now I had tried, especially the crab next to his eye as these are annoying to them. we heard after.

We were and still cannot believe we have been that lucky to experience this

Hi, It was an amazing experience. You will see at one point I am filming while the whale picks me up and I slide off. The beast was so gentle and knowing that they can knock us out with one swipe, we were amazed at how gentle she was. BTW the guy did not initiate contact she had already come up and he reacted to that after seeing that she seemed to want to say hello. My only regret is that I did not have enough energy to stay with her longer.

Wow... That's incredible!

Hi again, David! Just ran across an interesting article about research that shows that whales and dolphin brains are the only animal species besides humans that have spindle cells - these special cells are responsible for the ability to feel emotions such as love, grief, empathy and compassion,etc....this confirms my belief that you and this whale definitely were communicating with each other on a special level. It also helps explain why whales and dolphins have shown extreme grief over the death of their calves, or have been so eager to join in play with humans. It would be very interesting if researchers could view your video playing with the whale and talk to you about your interaction with her that you weren’t able to film because your camera batteries died. There is much to be learned from your amazing experience with this wonderful whale! Unfortunately I was not able to copy and paste the link here, but if you google “whales in love independent.uk” I think you could find it. Really intriguing research findings...

We certainly do.

Agree. Japan still huntd whale for scientific research. Why doesn't my gov and the USA stop this instead of chasing bs terrorists that don't exist.

Yeah, we still cannot believe it.

Hi, Yes we had thought of that, but not the barnacles , but rather the crabs on her skin. We learnt after that they attach themselves an burrow in the skin. We saw on the video that she had one really close to her eye. In retrospect I would have loved to have tried to get rid of that one at least. I wold not have tried using any tool of sorts as you can imagine we were feeling pretty lucky to experience this, the last thing we wanted to do was possibly harm her, even with the best intentions.

Hi, Which eye was it? I'm wondering if the slow blink could have been deliberate, to draw your attention to that eye. After keller Laros' dolphin seeking his help, nothing would surprise me. I've been checking out other whale videos to see if those barnacle patches are common but they don't seem to be which could indicate that the whale would be glad to have them gone. Good thing you didn't try to brush the barnacles off by hand . . . they cut like razors. You can lay on them or stand on them but they don't cut until you brush across them as you probably know. Terry

either way, trying to remove the parasites would likely have spooked her or caused harm. Barnacles are very tough to get off, and others that had embedded themselves would have left some damage behind, especially if you don't know how to handle them. If you did that and ended up doing something she didn't like, she might have freaked out and hurt someone by accident and then swam off. plus, after leaving you guys, new stuff would have popped up and taken its place anyways.

@@davidbruce2559 maybe this whale is helped before by human, may untangled from fishgear/ net. It can explain why she was al that time around you, I guess when she was a calf, she already looking for human contact out of curiousity. It can explain why she was seeking you and defenately your energie was apriciated, they see you as a human Soul , not as an personality.

Wouldn't that be cool

Whales are the 'Soul Keepers' of the Oceans energies by their sonars, singinging an clicking. They serve mother Earth by this. Please stop whaling🙁

Yes we were very lucky and we still enjoy the memory and only hope that this will someday always be the way that we can interact with animals.

I really hope you do. It is very humbling to be treated so gently by such a giant. Go to Eueiki in Tonga. It might happen, you nevr know.

Wow, that must have been incredible. That is on my wish list to do sometime. I would love to work with any animals in water.

Go for it David...it will definitely change your view of what's important...you just have to do it lol and deal with the somewhat clinical nature of the scientist's lol

Yes, Isnt that cool.