Large school of whales follows man rowing across the Atlantic for TWO HOURS<br />SWSMschool - by Ottilie Von Henning<br />A large school of whales surrounded and followed a man rowing across the Atlantic for TWO HOURS. <br />Tom Waddington, 40, set off on his 2,000-mile trip from Canada to England to raise money for the mental health charity Mind.<br />But just two days into his journey, a school of pilot whales approached him and began surrounding his boat.<br />After enjoying the initial moments, Tom soon became worried that the whales would end up accidentally damaging his boat, especially the rudder.<br />After two long hours and a terrifying moment where a whale hit his boat, the school eventually lost interest and left him to continue his journey.<br /><br />Tom, a ski instructor from Halifax, West Yorkshire, said: "There was a moment where the whale smashed into the boat.<br />"I heard a huge thud and felt the boat rock, which you can see in the video.<br /><br />"It was at this moment that I suddenly started to panic and worried they would break my rudder.<br />"If the rudder broke my trip would be over. I couldn't let that happen."<br /><br />Tom began his journey from St. John's, Newfoundland in Canada on July 5. <br />As he was was rowing past the coast of Grand Banks, Newfoundland, an area known for its richness in sea wildlife, a large school of whales began to surround him. <br />Tom continued rowing and tried to get away from the whales for two hours but unable to lose them, he phoned his coach for advice. <br />Tom said: "It turned out I'd been doing it all wrong by moving and trying to get away because it just made the whales more curious.<br /><br />"I was told to stay still and silent, which I did, and then the whales slowly lost interest.<br /><br />"One of the bigger whales reared its head and made a loud call after which they all began to move on and I got to continue my trip in peace."<br /><br />Overall, Tom found the experience thrilling and feels it was very much a once-in-a-lifetime moment.<br /><br />He said: "It was an amazing experience.<br /><br />"I couldn't believe it was happening to me.
