12-year-old hears whale spray — then captures ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ moment with drone
Zac Humski spent the last day of his school break on the water with his dad.
The pair headed out on Monday, July 17, venturing about 6 miles off the coast of Yanchep, Australia. As 12-year-old Zac — who is a photographer and drone pilot — was flying his drone, his dad, Steve Humski, captained their boat.
That’s when the father-son duo heard a distinct sound: whale spray.
Using his drone, Zac spotted a mom and baby humpback whale swimming together.
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“The mother kept coming up to the surface, and was carrying the baby on her nose, so we believe it was a very young baby learning to breathe and swim,” Zac’s mom, Kim Tully, told McClatchy News in an email. “The baby was happy to play and swim around (its) mother’s head.”
Video of the interaction show the massive mama whale diving through the water and using her nose to nudge her baby as it swims ahead of her.
A second video shows the baby attempting to dive with the support of its mom’s nose.
“[Zac] said that he doesn’t often get emotional about nature, but he was overcome with joy seeing the whales! He will never forget this experience,” Tully said. “Steve said they didn’t catch any fish, but they were thrilled seeing the whales, and that it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
Steve Humski shared his son’s photos on Facebook, and social media users were awed by the encounter.
“Wow I bet not many people get to experience this in their life,” one person commented. “How majestic.”
“That’s awesome,” another person wrote. “One in a million chance.”
“How stunning, that’s a pinch yourself moment,” a third person said.
Yanchep is on Australia’s west coast, about 30 miles north of Perth.
This story was originally published July 19, 2023 at 12:27 PM with the headline "12-year-old hears whale spray — then captures ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ moment with drone."
