An adventurer sailing solo across the Atlantic Ocean finds himself unexpectedly escorted on the high seas when he encounters a pod of pilot whales, leaving him both excited and fearful for his life.
Tom Waddington, who was rowing from Newfoundland to England, said in an Instagram post that he found himself surrounded by long-finned pilot whales after a drizzle on the morning of July 7.
“This is amazing,” Waddington said in the video. “There’s a pod of whales circling the boat, playing. It’s so much fun, but I’m so scared I’m going to get hit by the rudder. They’re so close, you know?”
Tom Waddington was surprised by a pod of pilot whales as he rowed from Canada to the UK for charity. tomwaddington_skier/Instagram
“You can hear them blowing bubbles,” he said. “Wow, it’s so amazing. What a special treat. I’ve seen a lot of whales, and they just come to say hello.”
Things quickly became terrifying when one of the whales crashed into his boat, forcing him to drop his camera and temporarily stop filming.
When he resumed, there was a concerned tone in his voice.
“I’ve been swimming around with thousands of whales for the last two hours now,” he said, as the camera turned back on.
“One just hit the boat and I don’t know what to do,” Waddington said. “I’m scared they’re going to hit the boat. I can’t believe it. It’s an amazing sight but it’s really scary.”
According to a crew member monitoring Waddington’s voyage from shore, the whales eventually swam away, allowing Waddington to continue paddling towards shore.
Tom Waddington is rowing across the Atlantic Ocean to raise money for mental health non-profit Mind Charity. tomwaddington_skier/Instagram
He undertook the arduous 2,000-nautical-mile journey to raise funds for the Mind Charity, a British mental health non-profit that supports people battling mental illness.
He still has a long way to go, but his team is tracking his progress on this site.
