Free diver get up close and personal with southern right whale

A Tassie free diver describes his up close and personal experience with a curious Southern right whale on the state’s East Coast.

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KEEN Tasmanian free diver Chris Landon-Lane had a close encounter of the marine mammal kind on Friday.

Mr Landon-Lane was in the water near Diamond Island, off Bicheno, when a curious Southern right whale came to check him out.

The stills from the video he took of the incident using a little Olympus waterproof camera are now attracting a lot of human attention.

“I was swimming back to shore when I saw the whale about 40m away,” Mr Landon-Lane said.

The Southern right whale keen free diver Chris Landon-Lane had a close encounter with at Bicheno

“I made whale noises through my snorkel and he became even more curious.”

The male whale was about seven metres long.

“I was a bit nervous to be that close. He was coming towards me, very slowly, but still headed straight for me.

“But it was not a hunting maneourve in which he had decided to eat me. But the whale could have still hurt me if it felt threatened.

“I was treading water and was so close I could see the barnacles on its nose.”

Mr Landon-Lane said the whale appeared to want to look him in the eye.

Breaking News Breaking News Free diver Chris Landon-lane

“There was about one minutes where we could clearly see each other.

“I was trying to be calm but was completely in awe of the creature. After the close up meeting, I gently slid to the side and we passed each other. It was a real buzz.”

Mr Landon-Lane said he was very respectful of the whale watching rules.

“If there had been a calf around I would have been very cautious about getting anywhere near the whale.”