Tom Waddington is currently solo rowing the north Atlantic Ocean, and he recently discovered himself far from alone– pilot whales swarmed him, and he got it on electronic camera. His social media supervisor published 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 running into the little vessel and knocking its occupant sideways. What begins as pure awe from Waddington turns to concerned wonder after the collision.
The whales then swell in number until the sea is “boiling” with them. Waddington approximates there were a thousand whales in the pod, and he spent about 2 hours floating among them. In reality, when he tried to paddle away, the whales simply followed him.
“I do not know what to do,” he stated at one point after the accident. “I’m sh ** ting myself [questioning if] they’re gon na hit the boat. I can’t think it. It’s an amazing sight, but likewise so scary.”
We don’t blame Waddington for fidgeting. If a pilot whale harmed his boat or overturned it by accident, Waddington would be in problem. Fortunately, nothing went awry. The spirited whales ultimately proceeded and Waddington went on his way.
View pilot whales swarm a rower in the Atlantic Ocean here:
Would your reactions mirror Waddington’s if you were in his shoes?
Tom Waddington is solo rowing the north Atlantic Ocean, however he wasn’t so solo when pilot whales swarmed him. He enjoyed and disliked it.