While filming on location off Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, whale scientist Nan Hauser was swimming towards two humpback whales when one of them started charging at her. When it approached, it started moving as if it were trying to tuck her under its fin – not a very comfortable maneuver for a human being hugged by a multi-ton giant with razor-sharp barnacles on its fins. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

Fearing for her life, things only got scarier as the humpback whale hoisted her out of the water and onto its back. She tried to swim away multiple times, but it wouldn’t let her.

Eventually she was able to put some distance between her and the enormous humpback whale. Only then did she understand why it had been beh

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