Professional diver James Moskito was recently swimming near the Fallon Islands just off the San Francisco coast with a team of divers when something happened that none of them were expecting.

James was in the middle of his dive when he caught sight of a humpback whale hovering near the surface.

As a seasoned diver, James could see that the whale was not in good condition, as whales typically only come up for air for a few seconds at a time.

Since the whale was staying above the surface for a long time, James knew something was wrong.

“The whale came up on a breath, came up, put its eye above the surface… looked at me, I could tell it was looking at me and it just stayed there,” James recounted. He then swam right up to the whale and put his hand on the creature, telling the sea-dweller, “I’m here to help you, I’m not going to hurt you.”

When James swam around behind the whale, he was shocked to find a 3,000-pound anchor attached to the whales tail.

The diver worked for hours to free the whale from the anchor’s one mile long line. After his hard work, he was eventually able to free the whale.

The whale was overjoyed to be free, and it immediately started swimming around in circles excitedly.

The whale expressed his gratitude to James by swimming up to him and rubbing against him.

We applaud James for having the awareness to understand that the whale was in dire straits and was able to have the skills to save this whale’s life. SHARE this story if it touched your heart!