The story
It all started when Rae was 9 years old on a camping trip around the coast of New Zealand, when they discovered a beach covered with many stranded short-finned pilot whales. Her father being a naturalist & environmentalist, stopped to see if we could save them... as New Zealand was still whaling in those days and unlike today, rescue teams were not available at that time.
Rae was deeply affected by this experience and as she travelled and worked internationally an adult, she always found the places to go watch her beloved whales.
In 1998 she was told about swimming with humpbacks, just off the coast of the Dominican Republic, her reaction to this information affected her emotionally and she immediately knew she had to go there. Two months later, Rae went on a first encounter in the water with humpbacks and found herself eye-to eye with a huge female humpback whale and her calf. Within seconds she lost all sense of time and space – for about 20 minutes, only becoming aware of where she was when she heard her name being called. . . the humpback whale was still there looking at her, her calf lying asleep on her head. . . . at that moment, Rae knew her life had changed forever and that her life-time passion was to make this experience available to as many people as possible to raise the awareness of the vital importance of the conservation of the whales of our oceans.
Long story-short. . . . that evening she was told that in the northern islands of Tonga they were just beginning to offer the whale-swimming experience. Three months later in August the same year, she was in Vava’u, Tonga swimming with whales. . . the rest is history!
Rae has dedicated her life to create the best whale eco-tour experience to share with people this incredible moment forever.
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