Aerial view of an incredible experience
Photo: Simón Thibaud – Drone Films Project
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Instagram @Dronefp
Swimmer: Tomás Thibaud.
Story
"We were somewhere in Peninsula Valdes, Argentina, taking pictures for several days, I had never felt nature so close, not even sleeping in the Chaco Forest, or in the Esteros del Iberá where nature abounds. It was an indescribable connection.
A morning of sunshine and a calm sea, while I was on the coast sheltered with polar, jacket and boots, I saw a whale passing by very near the coast. I've been doing nature photography for more than a decade, and fear or respect always kept me at a distance. But this time I felt something different. A boost that made took me any cold. I took off my clothes, my body and me needed an additional connection with those beasts of the sea. I was going to get into the water like that. But in a moment of clarity I put on the neoprene suit. I ran several meters barefoot down the boulder beach. I did not feel any pain when I stepped on the stones. I was in total ecstasy. I touched the water and I did not feel cold. My breathing was deep, mixing the run on the beach and the adrenaline I felt. I started swimming fast, but then I said to myself, let's do this slowly. I was in a huge sea, and in front of me had a whale with its calf on the back. I thought of softness. The sea was very calm, and it was there that I relaxed 100% and looked for a different connection. I reached that limit of the cliff where it was clear through the goggles that there was a cliff below me. At that time I thought that not crossing that limit could be my best protection, since the whale knows perfectly that it can not swim in low depth. There I relaxed even more. I was alone in the water. Raising my head and looking at a whale that was like a wall a few feet away. It was one of the most impressive sensations I've ever felt in my life.
The photo is just a nice anecdote. "(@TomasThibaud)
Swimming with a whale
