The Brazilian biologist captures the moment she found two humpback whales on a beach in Hawaii
The Brazilian biologist Maysa SantoroThe 31yearold was thrilled Face to face with a humpback whale, who was accompanied by her pup, swimming at a beach on Big Island, Hawaii. The São Paulo woman said the meeting was “a gift” as the episode happened the day after her birthday.
“The humpback whale is my favorite wild animal because of its size. I tend to call them “gentle giants”. The way she moved around my body was startling. She could have touched me, but she didn’t want to. She looked into my eyes and I looked into her eyes. You recognize that the animal is there and arguing with you, we recognize how conscious and careful it is with the environment it is in,” Maysa Santoro said on g1.
“It will be impossible to forget this day, it will stay in your memory forever. The feeling stays forever. It’s very pleasant to talk about what I felt: pure and sincere gratitude. Gratitude to know that I share planet earth with a humpback whale, an incredible animal. It was a gift,” he said.
1 of 3 Maysa Santoro was moved when she found an animal — Photo: Personal Archive Maysa Santoro was moved when she found an animal — Photo: Personal Archive
The biologist said she decided to take the plunge before sunrise and was alone on the beach on the Big Island, where she has lived for the past six months. She said she saw the “top” of an animal but didn’t suspect it was a humpback whale because she hadn’t heard a sound.
“Occasionally I do ‘freediving’ (a type of unaided diving). I had already seen the sun rise behind the mountain. Then, very close to me, I saw the tip of an animal sticking out of the water. I thought ‘it’s a shark or a manta ray’. I took two steps and saw that it was a mother humpback whale with her baby humpback whale. Usually you hear humpback whales underwater. I didn’t hear anything this time. I didn’t realize it until she was really close and I was all alone on the beach,” he said.
The meeting was recorded and shared on social media. The record went viral and has more than eight million views on Instagram.
The whale was almost 15 times larger than the biologist
2 of 3 The biologist says she stayed less than a meter from the whale — Photo: Personal Archive The biologist says she stayed less than a meter from the whale — Photo: Personal Archive
Maysa Santoro said that was less than a meter from the whaleHumpback. According to the Brazilian, the animal approached and, out of curiosity, began circling the diver’s body.
“When she saw me, she came towards me. She came towards me and almost knocked me over. Had to swim back, had to get out. I must have been less than a meter from her. If I stretched out my arm, I would lean against it,” Maysa said.
“She started circling my body, she was very curious to know who I am. Or she was trying to protect the puppy. I wasn’t scared at first, but I started to get scared when she started circling me. She started spinning around my body. I felt very small. I’m 1.61 meters tall and she’s 15 meters tall,” he commented.
Were you scared?
3 of 3 Maysa Santoro and the two humpback whales — Photo: Personal Archive Maysa Santoro and the two humpback whales — Photo: Personal Archive
When asked if she was scared when she found she was alone in the water with an animal 15 times her size, Maysa Santoro said she was scared of the whale’s approach. Nevertheless, the biologist was grateful to have had this experience.
“I didn’t think anything would happen as I know the species. After that I was a bit scared. As she approached, I started swimming backwards and in the opposite direction a little. The encounter lasted 2 minutes and 33 seconds but it felt like an eternity,” he said.
“I was very emotional. It was that feeling of finding an animal so complex, so rich, so intelligent. She hiked nearly three thousand miles to be there and I had this encounter. This experience was truly amazing.”