MEGAFAUNA
g boat into the sound and turned off the engine . The whales surfaced 100m away then headed towards us – we sat there and waited . Then one surfaced 20m away , so I slipped into the water and within seconds I could see both whales heading straight towards me .
My heart was in my mouth as I realised this was going to be very close . One surfaced just an arm ’ s length away . It turned and looked at me and gently glided past . I felt I could have reached out and touched it . I punched the air in delight , astounded to have been treated to such a close encounter . I could not believe it … I was swimming with humpbacks in my own back yard .
When you watch from the land you only see part of the whale show as the animals come up to breathe . But being in the water I got to see the whole animal swimming through the sea . It was an incredible experience and a massive privilege to be swimming with humpbacks in Shetland . People travel to far away places such as Tonga to swim with humpbacks and here we were doing it in the UK .
British seas are truly amazing .
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