14 DAY TRIAL // Swimming alongside a humpback whale must be one of the coolest experiences anyone could ever wish for, I used to think before laying eyes of this photo.
As it turns out, I was terribly wrong. There is something even cooler, and this something is getting a high five from one such marine mammal while swimming alongside it.
According to Daily Mail, the photo above was taken in Hawaiian waters by Masa Ushioda, from Tokyo.
The humpback whale featured in it is a female, and Masa Ushioda says that, at the time when he took this picture, it was quite calm and gentle, the same source details.
“This particular female humpback whale - with the white belly - was extremely friendly and very curious about us humans,” the photographer tells the press in a recent interview.
“She extended her pectoral fins to us repeatedly and sought for physical contact,” Masa Ushioda adds.
Despite the fact that they can grow to be about twice the size of a double decker buss, humpback whales are almost never a threat to divers who venture in their proximity.
In fact, wildlife researchers say that, quite often, they are ready and willing to swim with people, maybe even play close to them.