Gentle Giants

Depiste having an enourmous size, whales are one of the most mysterious yet gentle creatures living on earth. Their unique traits and strange behaviors attract humans. Despite knowing these creatures, biologists remain viligant about these giants.

Nan Daeschier Hauser/Facebook

Cook Islands, located in South Pacific has a lot of encounters with these marine mammals. These gentle giants have sent shockwaves throughout the community of marine biologists because they seem to be smarter than what we give them credit for. There are still things that we need to learn about these gentle giants.

Famous Marine Biologist

Nan Hauser is a 63-year-old marine biologist. She dedicated her life to studying whales and helping them. She was born in Maine near the borders of Canada. For the past three decades, Nan keeps documenting as many whales as possible, fighting for their rights and their safety.

Nan Daeschler Hauser/Facebook

According to Nan, one of her rewards in being a marine biologist is getting to swim with whales in an everyday basis. Swimming with something she greatly protects and loves, she was quite used to swimming together with these gentle giants, but one faithful encounter might change her perspective forever.

The Usual Swim

Nan was swimming off on her usual routine in the shores of Ratonga. Together with some colleagues and a boat, they kept track of Nan using a drone while Nan was swimming with a small pod of humpback Whales. Little did she know, something unusual would happen.

Using a waterproof camera, Nan keeps capturing images of the humpback whales when suddenly a huge male humpback whale weighing over 23 tons and measuring at least a whopping 50 feet, started plunging towards the marine biologist. She then knew that his behavior wasn’t normal at all.

Weird Behavior

Nan knew every whale’s behavior, except this one. Usually when swimming with whales, Nan would be the one approaching the whales in order to document their behavior. This time, something strange is happening as the gentle animal was rushing towards her.

Nan Daeschler Hauser/Facebook

Trying to remain calm, she still focused her lenses towards the huge humpback whale, documenting this weird behavior head-on. She was still figuring out why the whale was acting strangely. Although she wasn’t concerned at all.

Something’s Not Right

No one is more experienced in swimming with whales than Nan. It’s her work and she’s probably done more dives than other scientists. As a marine biologist and conservationist, her achievements are enough to be recognized as an extraordinary expert.

Nan Daeschler Hauser/Facebook

When the whale was rushing towards her, she knew by then that she was in big trouble. Whales usually ignore humans but this one specifically was eyeing the marine biologist and was just going straight for her. The whale then rammmed Nan and pinned her to the surface.

Trying To Survive

Nan tried to get away from the beast approaching but she can’t seem to get away and instead gets pushed farther away from the boat and her colleagues. She even tried to swim to the other side of the whale but the huge mammal wouldn’t let her.

Nan Daeschler Hauser/Facebook

Nan was so helpless at the situation. Despite having a lot of experience swimming with these huge animals, this is the first time she’s experiencing this type of behavior from the animal. The animal is so huge that just a little bit of movement might cause the marine biologist serious injury.

Whale’s Colossal Power

As you already heard, Nan is an expert in marine wildlife specially in whales. Being on that situation pushed her thoughts to think that a small movement from the animal will cause a lot of damage on her body. Just a little bump from the humpback whale can break her bones.

Nan Daeschler Hauser/Facebook

The ginormous animal keeps pushing her and essentially making her feel nervous as she was dragged away from her boat. Helpless, she keeps thinking why the whale was doing all of this strange behavior, but still, there was another thing the whale could do that made Nan feel scared.

Remain Composed

Since Nan was an expert, she kept her cool the whole time. She then deviced a plan that could probably save her. She decided to stay close to the Whale’s head since it was probably the safest area she could be in, knowing that humpback whales don’t have teeth but rather have sheets of soft baleen inside their mouths.

Nan Daeschler Hauser/Facebook

Still, she wanted to be away from the whale as much as possible. Nan had to stay very calm. Nan thought that if the whale would notice her change in behavior, the whale might do the same thing, bringing more risk and Nan wasn’t willing to take that risk.

An Unforgettable Experience

Let’s talk about Nan. Nan isn’t really afraid of the vast ocean, instead, she is more afraid of spiders. She also stated that she is terrified of small animals that could crawl towards her hand. But still being in this situation, Nan is totally terrified.

Nan Daeschler Hauser/Facebook

As Nan was trying to keep calm, she keeps thinking that despite having experience with whales, why was this happening to her. Everything that is happening to her shouldn’t be happening in the first place as this behavior wasn’t in the books. She then questioned herself that maybe her colleagues would know what was wrong.

Keeps Recording

Despite being in that horrifying situation, Nan keeps recording everything that is happening. While trying to escape, she took some photos and then a thought struck her as she might be recording her own death. Isn’t it quite terrifying?

Nan Daeschler Hauser/Facebook

Back at the boat, Nan’s colleagues were worried while following Nan using a drone. They could tell that something was definitely wrong but could do nothing and remain helpless. All they could do was watch and hope nothing happens to her.

Innocent Buddy

When you go diving, it’s always a general rule to have a buddy swimmer with you. So Nan wasn’t really the only one who was in the water. Her diving buddy, however, wasn’t that much experienced as her, and didn’t understand the situation at all. Even if her buddy knew what was happening, her buddy couldn’t help her at all.

Nan Daeschler Hauser/Facebook

Despite being pushed around by the large mammal, Nan keeps recording and tries to communicate with her buddy, but all of the movement doesn’t let her communicate for assistance at all. So her buddy was just watching her helplessly as she was pushed farther away from the boat.

No Means Of Stopping

The Humpback whale showed no signs of stopping and continued to push her away. The boat was already a little bit far away from her and soon, Nan found herself in the middle of the vast ocean together with a 50 ton Male Humpback whale.

Nan Daeschler Hauser/Facebook

This behavior was so unusual that there were no records of this happening in the past. You think nothing could get worse than this? Seems like Nan and the whales had another company. Another large shadow appeared in the distance.

Another Whale

Just a little bit off in the distance, Nan spotted another moving shadow. A second humpback whale arrived. These large gentle giants are social animals, so seeing another one isn’t surprising at all. But this one isn’t quite the same with the one who pushed Nan. This was very unusual.

Nan Daeschler Hauser/Facebook

Seeing the other whale, Nan tried to understand the situation. Still, Nan couldn’t understand it at all. She could tell that this was an extremely rare situation that she’s in, one where simply no one could understand even for an expert such as herself.

Strange Agitation

As Nan was observing the weird behavior of the whales, Nan noticed that the second whale was also displaying such an odd behavior. The second whale kept smacking the surface of the water with its tail as if it was trying to hit someone behind it.

Nan Daeschler Hauser/Facebook

Confused, Nan couldn’t think about the strange behavior she is witnessing despite being an experienced marine biologist. The other one was pushing her away while the other one just kept slapping the surface of the water. Nobody knows what was going on.

Small Injury

Being bumped and dragged away from the boat, Nan was getting a little bit bruised from the whole experience. The whale had already pushed her for more than 10 minutes, and the sharp barnacles that are attached to the whale kept scraping her body whenever the massive mammal touched her.

Nan Daeschler Hauser/Facebook

Still, the intentions of the 2 humpback whales wasn’t clear at all. Whether the whales meant her harm or not, she still was taking some bruises from all of the dragging and pushing she’s getting from the whale. But something finally changed when Nan noticed what was really happening.

Whale’s Not Letting Her Go

After an hour, the whale kept dragging Nan to him as close as he could. As she was figuring it out, she finally understood the reason behind this strange behavior. It was beginning to dawn on her that for the past hour or so, she was in a terrible situation. Not because of the whales, though.

Nan Daeschler Hauser/Facebook

She wanted to get away as fast as possible in order to survive this terrifying experience. But the whale wasn’t gonna let her go that easily. It kept dragging her away. She still struggled to get away and was trying to find a gap to swim away.

Hunting Grounds

Just a little bit off in the distance where the second whale was slapping the surface, she finally saw something more dangerous that the whales; a massive tiger shark. These brutal predators are also known to harm humans. They are massive and can grow more than 15 feet in length.

Nan Daeschler Hauser/Facebook

Nan then realized that the whales meant no harm at all, in fact, the whales were trying to protect her from one of the most dangerous predators in the ocean. But still, the behavior of the whale doesn’t guarantee her safety, she’s still in grave danger.

Vicious Predators

Great white sharks are the common sharks that people are aware and are scared of, no thanks to Hollywood making them out to be man-eating machines. Despite being larger and stronger than tiger sharks, Great White shark attacks are rare and more manageable.

Great white sharks normally take one bite and leave their prey. Tiger sharks, however, are known to attack ruthlessly without stopping. Knowing what was happening, Nan decided to push as hard as she could in order for her to build momentum and tried to rush to the boat.

Arrived Safely At The Boat

Nan and her diver successfully escaped the terrible situation they were in. Nan pulled herself and got on the boat, exhausted and a little bit relieved, she told her colleagues that a large tiger shark was lurking in the waters beneath them.

Nan Daeschler Hauser/Facebook

As Nan calmed down a bit, she was far from terrified, she was relieved and was amazed that the whales weren’t trying to hurt her but instead tried to protect her from a dangerous predator. As she was watching the waters, she saw something extraordinary.

Checking For Her Safety

As Nan finally rested for a bit, she walked to the ship’s railing. The male humpback was waiting patiently, as if trying to check if she was already safe and away from the waters. Seems like the huge gentle giant was just concerned for her and making sure Nan is safe before leaving and diving back into the sea.

Nan Daeschler Hauser/Facebook

When the whale knew that Nan was safe, it let out a burst of water from its blowhole and proceeded to swim away. Nan knew by then that the whale truly protected her and was only trying to keep her safe. Nan watched her oceanic friend swim off in the distance and still felt amused on the experienced that she witnessed.

The Marine Biologist’s Hypothesis

Nan then reviewed all of the recorded footage she documented, her buddy’s documentary, and the drone’s documentary as well. She finally understood the weird behavior of the whales. Nan concluded her hypothesis that the whale was trying to protect her from the massive tiger shark.

Nan Daeschler Hauser/Facebook

All of this made sense, considering she’s an expert in whale behavior’s. But that was the first time she ever experienced that kind of behavior and she was quite fascinated that she experienced it face on. Whales acting this way, is quite exhilarating.

Gentle Giants Of The Sea

Humpback whales are still a little bit mysterious to us humans but still they are well documented. Considering Nan had a huge understanding about these large mammals, she’s still trying to study more about her terrifying experience.

Nan Daeschler Hauser/Facebook

Back in 2016, over 115 documented cases were compiled about the behavior of whales working and saving their own calves. Also whales are known to shelter or save other marine animals from predators, including dolphins and sea lions. Although Nan’s case was different from all of this.

New Discovery

Marine Biologists are quite familiar already with humpback whales helping other species in dangerous situations. For instance, Robert Pitman, a marine ecologist witnessed a humpback whale projecting a seal out of the just to save it from a pod of killer whales.

Nan Daeschler Hauser/Facebook

However, Nan’s experienced was special. Although whales are known to help other animals, helping humans was new and maybe Nan’s case was the first one ever documented. Although some members of the scientific community were astonished, well, some weren’t.

Changing The Tides In The Scientific Community

After everyone in the community heard Nan’s extraordinary story, the community was torn. Half of them believed in Nan’s hypothesis about the unusual whale behavior and the other half didn’t believe Nan’s hypothesis and thought that it was impossible that the humpback’s intentions were true at all.

Nan Daeschler Hauser/Facebook

Some even thought that the whale could be acting strange for a different reason and the shark’s appearance in the water could have been unrelated to the situation at all. However, Nan was determined about her hypothesis on her life changing experienced.

Proving The Footage Was True

The entire incident was caught on camera. From Nan’s view, to Nan’s buddy, and from the drone’s footage, every angle was documented. Even though some won’t believe Nan’s hypothesis of her experience, she still believed that the humpback whales tried to save her.

Nan Daeschler Hauser/Facebook

Nan believe that this unusual behavior is called Animal Altruism. Humpback whales are compassionate and empathetic. Nan carefully used the word “altruistic”. Hence the documentary proved what she believed from the start.

Natural Instinct

According to marine ecologist, Robert Pitmas, there are several factors that differentiate between being compassionate and and being altruistic. When humans protect an animal from danger, this one can be called as compassion. Altruistic on the other hand has several explanations.

Nan Daeschler Hauser/Facebook

It is possible that the humpback whale tried to protect Nan due to compassion, but it is also possible that the whale saw Nan as an offspring and tried to protect Nan from possible danger. Although it’s really hard to say, but you can’t deny that the whales just wanted to keep her safe. Whether they saw her as a human or mistook her for an offspring, at the end of the day, it’s a story only Nan will live to tell. Lucky her!