The Encounter Was Kind and Graceful
One of the first things Hauser said to the whale was: “‘Hello my friend!’ Indeed, we were old friends! He was as gentle as a 50,000 pound whale can be with a 132 pound human. There was no sense of fear in his eye this time and the encounter was kind and graceful. My research team on the boat was amazed at our encounter of reuniting and took photos and video! I hugged the whale’s pectoral fin and he lifted me out of the water while everyone else was watching with their jaws dropped! The world thought that it was amazing that I had the opportunity to be a ‘whale rider’ last year, but for me it was the most terrifying thing that I have ever experienced. Now it was happening again but only as a reuniting of spirits.”