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AssetID: 35101488

Headline: Photographer Captures Incredible Whale Encounter

Caption: These stunning pictures show a remarkable interaction with a playful humpback whale - including a near high-five between hand and fin. Taken by Sydney-based underwater photographer David Edgar in Tonga, they show the adolescent male seemingly frollicking with David's group, which included his wife Alice. David explains: "These photos came from a 2-3 hour encounter with an extremely playful adolescent male humpback whale. "The whale came right up to the boat and would “spy-hop”, which is swimming vertically and sticking his head out of the water to look at us. "A group of us got into the water, and within moments the curious whale was circling around us, and often swimming right underneath us to get a good look. "He (the whale) did this for about half an hour, as our group in the water bunched together tightly, basically staying in the exact same spot "He would often gently place his pectoral fin out in front of us, and just leave it hanging there as he swam around us "At one point, he swam away and then collected a group of his whale friends to come over and take a look at us too! They however, swam by, took a look, but ultimately weren’t as interested as he was in us."

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