CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- Without wearing any breathing aid equipment, a girl dived freely into the sea to catch up the wandering "deep-sea giants" - sperm whale "family”, and swam with them for one minute. In the azure ocean, a humankind and whales swimming together, forming a beautiful scene of harmony between human beings and the nature.

Xie Binzhu, a native in Chongqing, has been practicing diving for many years and bravely dived into the sea. When chasing whales, she swam with her breath held back without fins that provided power. Others said it was impossible, but she reached the “ceiling”.

Holding the breath, she swam with the whale family for one minute

"It will be very impressive if you can swim with whales for 20 seconds after catching them up!"

"Come and see if I can swim with them for one minute."

Recently, on social media, Xie Binzhu posted a conversation with the photographer Zou Wenlong. Her confidence came from an adventure undersea.

In the accompanying video, she swam with three sperm whales for one minute in the azure sea. The picture is ethereal and beautiful, very astonishing. During the process, the sperm whale baby also leaned onto its mother to breastfeed. Harmonious coexistence between man and marine animals, man and nature was also recorded by the photographer, which has aroused widespread concern and discussion on the Internet.

Xie Binzhu, from Chongqing, is 30 years old this year. Recently, the reporter met her in Yangjiaping, Jiulongpo District.

"I am the luckiest person in this tour group," said Xie Binzhu, adding that she engaged in information technology construction as an office worker. During the May Day holiday, she and her friends went to Mauritius, with the main focus on watching whales. "For those of us who learn diving, chasing whales is the ultimate dream. For me, I went there with the intention to fulfill my childhood dream. When I saw whales in a documentary when I was a child, I was very eager to swim with them."

Whales are deep-sea animals, so it’s hard to see them on the sea surface. When they leap out of the sea to breathe, they will stay briefly, allowing people to "get a glimpse of them". When whales appear, some people will exclaim in great surprise, while those who love diving will follow them into the sea and swim together for a while. This is what Xie Binzhu said about chasing whales.

"On the first day we arrived there, we saw more than 20 whales. I dived into the sea four times, and each time I dived into the sea, I encountered whales, so lucky." Xie Binzhu said that when she dived into the sea for the forth time, she met the sperm whale "family”, and holding the breath, she swam with them for a minute.

Chasing whales without fins, she reached two "ceilings" at once

Recalling this adventure, Xie Binzhu said with emotional thoughts, "It was a highlight in my life! Opportune time, geographic advantage and unity of the people all must be in place."

Xie Binzhu told the reporter that the visibility was very high in the sea, so she immediately saw the sperm whale “family”. "They were supposed to swim very fast, just the smallest sperm whale baby could move 20 meters forward with a gentle flick of its tail." She said that if sperm whales repel humans, they would quickly "escape" and even motor boats could not catch them up. "The first time I encountered a sperm whale in the water, it quickly escaped, and I was very frustrated at the time, thinking that I couldn't catch them up no matter how hard I tried."

The sperm whale she met this time was a “family of three”, swimming very leisurely. "Swimming slowly and leisurely, as if they were waiting for me. It's also rare to meet a whale mother and her baby, because sperm whale mothers only give birth to one baby in 4 to 6 years, and their reproductive ability is very weak. I was lucky enough to meet them, so it can be said that I has both the opportune time and geographic advantage." Xie Binzhu explained that the so-called "unity of the people" is not about diving when you have made sufficient preparation, but about waiting for the opportunity to move. It is about one's diving skills. By diving, swimming ascent, and swimming forward to slowly approach whales. The most important thing is wearing no breathing aid equipment, because carrying weight will make her swim slower. Only free diving can allow her to catch up with whales.

"During the one minute when I was swimming with the whales, I held my breath. What was rare was that the photographer following me captured this precious scene." Xie Binzhu concluded that it was a success achieved by her and the photographer together.

More footage also shows how Xie Binzhu was chasing whales without fins. When diving freely, she only wore diving goggles without the fins that provided powerful propulsion for swimming and diving. This also made it more difficult for her to chase whales.

"Diving without fins is the ceiling for free diving; and chasing whales is the dream ceiling for divers," said Xie Binzhu with a smile, “I reached two 'ceilings' once.”

Be well prepared, and break through more possibilities

There is no shortcut, and it is a lot of hard practice that make reaching the “ceiling” possible.

Xie Binzhu said that she came prepared and never went into battles unprepared. For this reason, she registered for diving training four years ago, and has passed three course exams by the Association Internationale pour le Developpement de l'Apnee (AIDA). Finally, she has obtained the Certificate of AIDA Three Star Free Divers.

"A month before I decided to go to Mauritius, whenever I had time, I would stay in the training hall," said Xie Binzhu, adding that she mainly practicing free diving without fins. "At that time, many people were not optimistic and thought that it was impossible for me to catch up with whales without fins."

"When many students left after finishing training, Xie Binzhu was still there." Xie Binzhu's coach, Luo Weicen, told the reporter that Xie Binzhu was not a talented student, so what she could do was to practice hard. For example, some students achieved ear pressure balance in just a few days, while Xie Binzhu spent several months to do this. "Many people practice diving for an experience, while she practices for a skill and she has obtained the certificate." Luo Weicen introduced that among the students he has taught, there are very few of them have obtained the Certificate of AIDA Three Star Free Divers. Chasing whales without fins is also considered very difficult by many people.

"I am the person who would make everything the best" Xie Binzhu explained. (Translated by Hu Chuanmin, Fathom Language Limited)