Stunning Video Shows Lucky Diver Swimming Next to Blue Whale in Maldives
If you're an ocean lover and find everything that lives in it fascinating and awe-inspiring, this video that ABC News shared on Monday, July 15th is a must see! A lucky diver in the Maldives had an incredible experience when he encountered a blue whale who didn't seem to mind sharing space with him at all. The diver was filmed swimming alongside the huge whale, and it was a dive I'm sure he'll never forget!
The video is about 45 seconds long and shows the two swimming through the warm ocean waters. The diver looks tiny next to the huge animal, and I'm sure he felt extremely outsized! Whoever filmed the experience is also sure to remember this dive for the rest of their life.
Talk about a once in a lifetime experience! I wish the video was longer so we could see how long the two swam side by side before the diver had to go up for air. The blue whale didn't seem to mind the human being next to it at all. ABC News commenters also enjoyed watching such an incredible experience. @Okie Paints said exactly what I was thinking, "My #1 bucket list thing to experience in this life!!! What a dream!!" @Jill shared, "I was holding my breath the whole time!" Not everybody thought the diver was doing the right thing, though. @Eva said, "Leave it alone. 100%" The diver didn't appear to be doing anything wrong and definitely didn't touch it.
Related: Whale Feeding in the Water Nearly Swallows Kayaker in Harrowing Video
Facts About Blue Whales
Commenter @Matt pointed out, "Yah then it hits you on accident and injures you. I don’t think swimming next to a creature so much bigger than you is very safe." He's not wrong about the whale being big; blue whales are the largest animals that have ever lived. To say they are big is an understatement; they reach up to 100 feet long (that's about 3 school buses back-to-back) and can weigh up to 200 tons (that's more than 30 elephants!) They're HUGE! Interestingly, female blue whales are usually larger than the males.
Even a blue whale's heart it big. Treehugger shared, "It's the largest heart in the animal kingdom, weighing about 400 pounds. As a blue whale dives to feed, its giant heart may only beat twice per minute." And speaking of diving, blue whales dive to depths of up to 6,500 feet and can stay underwater for about two hours at a time. What are they diving for? Food. Blue whales eat almost 9,000 pounds of krill daily, and when it's their feeding season, they eat up to 40 million krill a day.
Treehugger also shared this cool fact, "Blue whales, in fact, are the loudest animals on the planet. A jet engine registers at 140 decibels; the call of a blue whale reaches 180. Their language of pulses, groans, and moans can be heard by others up to 1,000 miles away." That's crazy!
I love learning facts about animals, especially ones that fascinate me like blue whales. Here's hoping one day I get to have the kind of experience this lucky diver did. It's definitely on my bucket list!
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