Sensational Seas Two DVD: Contributor, Rob Barrel

Tonga is one of the few places in the world where you can swim with Humpback whales. The whales arrive from their feeding grounds in Antarctica to court, mate, and give birth in the warmer waters. During the Nai'a’s dozen seasons in Tonga, they have forged relationships with some of the whales. The years of patient and calm behavior on the part of the swimmers, allowing the whales to act on their own terms, has resulted in grand encounters with the naturally curious creatures.

Rob Barrel spent his formative years in Hawaii. His formal training in anthropology and keen personal interest in dolphins and whales led him, after graduation from college, to purchase a derelict 120-ft. motorsailer and transform it into a platform for studying whales and dolphins. Nai’a is owned and managed by Rob and his sister and brother-in-law, Alexx and Todd Edwards. Cat Holloway joined Rob and the Nai’a family in 1996. She and Rob ran the Nai’a ship and diving operations for ten years before moving ashore to start a family. Alexx and Todd continue to run shore operations. They and their extended family of crew and shore office staff have turned the Nai’a into one of the premiere liveaboard operations in the world.

Major funding for Sensational Sea Two DVD was provided by the Carrow Foundation.