John Hopkins

Welcome to Real Survival Stories.

These are the astonishing tales of ordinary people thrown into extraordinary situations.

People suddenly forced to fight for their lives.

In this episode, we meet marine biologist Nan Houser.

Based in the Cook Islands in the South Pacific, Nan is the president of a research organization devoted to the study and protection of whales.

She has dedicated much of her life to these giant mammals, and in the course of her work she often swims alongside them, immersing herself in their world in order to better understand it.

But in September 2017, Nan's research becomes a little too immersive when a 45-ton humpback whale comes hurtling towards her at full tilt.

But instead of a shattering impact, something else happens.

Something just as frightening and certainly more mystifying.

Nan will find herself being picked up and swept along by the enormous creature, balanced on the tip of its vast jaw.

But fear will soon turn to curiosity as she begins to wonder what this whale wants with her.

The answer to that question will eventually become clear and will be both fascinating and terrifying in equal measure.

I'm John Hopkins.

From the Noisa Podcast Network, this is Real Survival Stories.

It's September 2017 in the South Pacific.

Fanning out beneath a central spine of volcanic peaks, the island of Rarotonga gently unspools through miles of verdant jungle until the land meets the sea.

Along the shoreline, white sand beaches yield to impossibly clear water, where threads of sunlight stitch dappled patterns into the floor of the shallow, kilometer-wide lagoon.

This is a picture postcard paradise.

But beyond its holiday brochure good looks, Rarotonga, and the Cook Islands in general, offer sanctuary to more than just tourists.

The cyan waters that surround them are among the most biodiverse on the planet, playing host to a dazzling array of marine life.