Marine biologist Nan Hauser has been diving with whales in the ocean for the last 28 years. She recently had her most memorable diving experience ever, however, as a whale saved her life!

Nan was diving near the Cook Islands in the South Pacific back in October along with a camera crew that wanted to film her in the water alongside humpback whales. Suddenly, a whale swam right up to Nan and started nudging her with his chin. The whale then tried to tuck her underneath his pectoral fin, which is a very rare thing for this creature to do.

“He just wouldn’t stop touching me,” Nan said, adding that she tried to get away numerous times but the whale would not stop pushing her.

“He eventually pushed me up right out of the water on his fin,” she said. “He kept putting his eye right next to me and I couldn’t figure out what he was trying to tell me.”

“That whale was intent on keeping me away and hiding me. And I didn’t know why,” she recounted.

The nudging continued for the next ten minutes, and Nan started to fear the worst.

“I thought the camera crew was going to end up filming my death,” she said. “One whip of a whale’s tail on you, and the pressure would break your bones.”

She soon realized that the whale was not trying to hurt her at all, however, and that he actually wanted to save her life! Find out what the whale was doing in this incredible video below, and SHARE this story so your friends and family can see this as well!