If you’re one of those people who loves nature, you’re going to love this video. On the other hand, if you’re one of those people who is terrified by nature (many of us), you are going to never want to go near the water again after seeing it. Either way, though, what these kayakers captured while watching a mother whale nurse her child will probably stay with them the rest of their lives. (It was a real Free Willy moment, you guys.)
The beginning of the video is actually pretty chill, with everyone watching the whales from a safe distance. Soon, the humpbacks (after 30 minutes of being watched) decide they’ve had enough of being gawked at and slide under the water, only to re-emerge with some pretty amazing bellyflops. As Mashable notes, the baby is impressive but it’s the mom that’s the real star here. Is anyone else terrified by how close those whales are? It’s like the calf lulled everyone into a false sense of calm and then the mom showed up to do some jazz fins and let everyone know what’s up. Could someone set this to music, because we’d love a version in which the mom surfaces just as the bass drops (that’s a thing we’re still doing, right?).
Fortunately, everyone appearing in the video was okay. The kayakers paddled away as quickly as they could and no one was hurt. Most importantly, the whales, who stopped breaching shortly after, were completely unscathed. The only casualty? A camera that was dropped during the escape. Small price to pay for such an incredible memory.
