Tom Waddington is currently solo rowing the north Atlantic Ocean, and he recently found himself far from alone—pilot whales swarmed him, and he got it on camera. His social media manager posted the video to Waddington’s Instagram account, which he’s managing while Waddington is on his expedition.
In the video, a bunch of long-finned pilot whales surround Waddington’s boat, at one point even bumping into the small vessel and knocking its occupant sideways. What starts as pure awe from Waddington turns to concerned awe after the collision.
The whales then swell in number until the sea is “boiling” with them. Waddington estimates there were a thousand whales in the pod, and he spent about two hours floating amongst them. In fact, when he tried to paddle away, the whales just followed him.
“I don’t know what to do,” he said at one point after the collision. “I’m sh**ting myself [wondering if] they’re gonna hit the boat. I can’t believe it. It’s an amazing sight, but also so scary.”
We don’t blame Waddington for being nervous. If a pilot whale damaged his boat or overturned it by accident, Waddington would be in trouble. Thankfully, nothing went awry. The playful whales eventually moved on and Waddington went on his way.
Watch pilot whales swarm a rower in the Atlantic Ocean here:
Would your reactions mirror Waddington’s if you were in his shoes?