Man rowing solo across Atlantic was surrounded by hundreds of large creatures—what happened next left him a 'little shaken'
Encounters with the nature's finest in the wild can turn out to be surprisingly pleasant at times. A man on a boat journey across the Atlantic Ocean on his own was worried when whales swarmed all around his vessel, but it turned out to be a great experience. The pod of pilot whales followed the man, Tom Waddington, for quite a few hours before they left. The whales were popping their heads out of the water and playing around as they kept the man company after a bad day, as he travelled at 2,000 nautical miles from the Newfoundland coast to Penzance, United Kingdom, per NPR.
It started with a few whales going around the boat and soon the number grew to hundreds as the man kept going forward. At one point, one of the whales also hit the side of the boat. The man who goes by @tomwaddington_skier on Instagram shared that he "loved" it, but was also a little worried that they might hit his rudder, per a video on his page. The whales blew bubbles and played as the excited man kept watching. "What a special treat. I have seen loads of whales, but they have come here to say hello," Waddington went on. The man was feeling really down before that because it had rained all morning that day. After a whale hit his boat, the ski instructor tried to row away from them, but the whales kept following him and increasing in numbers.
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"Whilst Tom could see they were just being playful, he was (rightly) terrified that their fun and games could mean that he loses his rudder in the process! As a solo, unsupported ocean rower, losing a rudder would be a major problem," the caption from the man's team explained. "He spent a full two hours rowing whilst surrounded by white water caused by over a thousand whales travelling with him, as he made his way ever eastward!" Eventually, the whales left the man alone and he came out of the experience unharmed. "He was left safe, dry(ish) and with one of the most incredible experiences imaginable!"
The man screamed and splashed with his oars to try and get away from the whales, per NPR. Once he got away, he contacted his coach, Charlie Pitcher, who had rowed across the Atlantic, too. "He was like, the best thing to do is, be quiet and still — which is exactly the opposite of what I did earlier." The man was rowing to raise funds for the mental health charity, Mind, led by actor Stephen Fry. His boat could keep sailing smoothly and unaffected afterwards. The weather had turned favorable and he could make good progress because of his "whale-fueled adrenaline."
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Waddington's Journey began on July 4, 2024 and ended on August 21, 2024, according to the YB Tracking race reviewer. The man completed his journey in 45 days and was able to raise 72,353 pounds ($97,259) for the charity, per Just Giving. Many people were amazed by the man's experience in the comments section of the Instagram video. @cmj1s wrote, "I had a similar experience when boating on the Atlantic side of Cape Cod years ago. It truly is a wonderful, exciting and scary experience!" @renayashton commented, "Wow, you are living the dream. Well, my dream, way to go. You are so blessed and I wish you the best on your trip." @58electron remarked, "An absolute once in a lifetime experience. Great for you."