This is the tense moment a huge whale nearly crushes a free diver as it swims down through the water.<br /><br />Mitch Brown, 27, and his girlfriend Yanna Xian, 24, were swimming on a whale boat tour when they were approached by a baby Humpback.<br /><br />The curious two-week-old calf swam right up close to Yanna before descending into the sea, nearly taking her along too.<br /><br />Mitch, from Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, said: "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. <br /><br />"This one may have not seen Yanna which is why it reared it’s head before touching her. <br /><br />"As it was swimming away was the time I realized we had just created a life memory. <br /><br />"It felt like a true connection between human and whale."<br /><br />The couple booked onto a whale-spotting boat tour with Moorea Blue Water on the final day of their trip to Moorea, Tahiti last September. <br /><br />Every so often, the boat would stop and they would be able to get into the water to view whales in their natural habitat.<br /><br />Photographer Mitch said: "We love traveling and freediving in our free time, we knew Tahiti was a bucket list destination to swim with whales.<br /><br />"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. <br /><br />"As we calmly watch them from above the water, this curious baby whale decides to come up to check us out."<br /><br />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 Apple Store worker Yanna.<br /><br />Mitch, who also works at the Apple Store, said: "It was a beautiful display of respect from both of them. <br /><br />"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. <br /><br />"I was more worried the whale would in unintentionally hit Yanna, and it happened so quickly that by the time I could react the whale was changing course. <br /><br />"After that we all swam to each other and showed each other videos and photos and were laughing and high-fiving. <br /><br />"We were all so stoked we got to witness that. <br /><br />There was definitely a moment of connection between the two of them."<br /><br />Yanna was letting some water our her goggles when the whale approached, and when she put her head back underneath she saw it was right in front of her.<br /><br />She did not touch the whale, but the experience left a huge impression.<br /><br />Mitch said: "She could not believe that she just interacted with the baby whale up close. <br /><br />"It was definitely a bucket list item that she didn’t even know she had."<br /><br />The video was filmed on September 23 2021.
