Free Divers Have Close Encounter with Baby Humpback Whale in Tahiti: 'We Were All so Stoked'

This video captures the moment a free diver encounters a baby whale.

Mitch Brown, 27, and his girlfriend Yanna Xian, 24, were swimming on a whaleboat tour when a baby humpback approached them.

The curious two-week-old calf swam up close to Xian before descending into the sea.

Because of the whale's massive size and the movement of the water, the animal nearly pulled Xian along, forcing the diver to swim upwards to keep herself from descending.

Brown, from Honolulu, Hawaii, told SWNS, "Whales had been almost that close to us before, but they always had a clear sense of direction which was almost always away from us."

"As it was swimming away was the time I realized we had just created a life memory," he added. "It felt like a true connection between human and whale."

SWNS

The couple booked a whale-spotting boat tour with Moorea Blue Water on the final day of their trip to Moorea, Tahiti last September.

Every so often, the boat would stop and they would be able to get into the water to view whales in their natural habitat.

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"We were just swimming on the top of the water because we saw a mama whale and the baby whale resting at the bottom of the ocean," Brown said of the moment in the video.

"As we calmly watch them from above the water, this curious baby whale decides to come up to check us out," he added.

SWNS

The baby was caught on camera swimming up to the ocean's surface and rolling about in play before deciding to dive back down just inches from Xian.

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"It was a beautiful display of respect from both of them," Brown said. "The whale clearly didn't want to run into Yanna and Yanna tried to swim back with her hands instead of feet to avoid kicking the whale.

"We were all so stoked we got to witness that," he added. "There was definitely a moment of connection between the two of them."