On a rare calm day off the remote island of Tubuai in French Polynesia, photographer Shane Gross and his diving buddies had an extraordinary encounter with a pair of humpback whales. After spotting the humpbacks playing at the surface, Gross and his friends slipped silently into the ocean and swam in their direction.

“As soon as we saw them in our peripheral vision, we stopped swimming,” says Gross. “And what happened next was nothing short of astonishing. The whales swam directly to us, passing within a few meters. We were still and silent on the outside while bursting with excitement on the inside. Little did we know they would stay with us for the next four hours! We didn’t even have to swim to keep up, they kept coming back to us over and over and over.”

“It was a male and female in a courtship dance, but I think the female was pretty bored of him and took us as something new to be curious about. We could hear them vocalise to each other and saw them roll over on their backs, splashing their massive pectoral fins in playful joy. A couple of times the male went down for a nap, but the female (which we affectionately named Lucile) never stopped playing.”

Humpbacks have been coming to Tubuai for as far back as we know, probably long before humans. They travel between Tubuai (and other islands in French Polynesia) and Antarctica annually. They feed in Antarctica and come to the warm waters of French Polynesia to mate, give birth and feed their calf milk to bulk them up.  

There were many humpbacks in the area, likely over two dozen around Tubuai, but many don’t feel like playing, which is understandable. 

It’s rare to see humpbacks in the throes of their mating rituals. They are usually travelling far faster than any human can swim in what is called a heat run. A female will swim fast to test out which male is the fittest (sometimes several are in pursuit at one time). In this case, I don’t think Lucile was ready to mate quite yet, but the male was still doing his best to impress her.

Whales are very individual with some being more curious than others. They can also change moods. What was so unusual about this encounter was the level and duration of curiosity and play. To keep coming back to us for several hours is really special.  

It’s hard to know what the whales were thinking, or why the female was so interested in us. To me, it appeared as though she just wanted to have fun. It was really her that kept the male there. He was interested in us, but not to the same level as Lucile. A few times the male took a nap, but Lucile just kept on playing with us, twirling, splashing and dancing. 

We wanted to be engaging and entertaining so we would wave to them or freedive down and twirl and put our arms out like they were pectoral fins. Whatever we did, they loved it! Of course, we were respectful and careful to not touch or chase them. 

I have spent thousands of hours in the ocean and have had some amazing encounters, but this is my number one because it was on the whales’ terms. They could have swum away and left us in their bubbles any time they wanted. So many times, when the whales were swimming away and we thought the encounter was over, they would turn back again. It was such a great feeling! They came right up to us while we floated motionless on the surface or dove down to show that we were having fun too. You can really see in their eyes that they are intelligent, the way they study us. I was on fire inside. Many of us shed tears of joy.

After four hours in the water, I thought it might never end, but eventually the whales swam away. We didn’t chase them. We saw the same pair and an additional male a few days later. Lucile was equally as playful, but the new male wasn’t. He may have been jealous and guided her away after about a half hour of playtime. Do I think they mated? I sure hope so, they seemed like such a nice couple!