This friendly whale gave a boat full of admirers an experience they’ll never forget.
Heather MacIntyre, a marine naturalist/photographer working for Maya’s Legacy Charters on San Juan Island near Victoria, captured some pretty amazing footage of a humpback whale. MacIntyre says that Windy is well known to locals as a friendly humpback whale who often approaches boats whose motors are off.
The boat was stopped and watching Windy from a distance when she got a little closer, soon surfacing an arm’s length away. The whale stayed near the boat for about an hour, rolling over, showing off her fins, making eye contact, and covering the visitors with her exhalation. The boat wasn’t able to leave since Windy kept swimming under and near the motor.
“The more we interacted and gave her vocal attention, the more she seemed to interact,” said MacIntyre. “As a behavioralist, I was loving every minute of this. At one point she left us, and we thought that was goodbye. We stood corrected after she breached full out of the water twice, then came right back (surprising us again), as if to say ‘look what I can do’!”
Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime encounter that’s worth a bit of whale spray.
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