0:00:02 > 0:00:05'On Deadly 60, I've had loads of incredible animal encounters.
0:00:05 > 0:00:08'Here's just one of my many favourites.
0:00:08 > 0:00:10'This is Deadly 60 Bites.'
0:00:10 > 0:00:11Whoa!
0:00:15 > 0:00:18'My crew and I are on a mission of massive proportions.
0:00:18 > 0:00:20'We're in Sri Lanka,
0:00:20 > 0:00:23'to find the largest animal ever known to have lived,
0:00:23 > 0:00:25'the blue whale.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28'My hope is to freedive with them,
0:00:28 > 0:00:31'with both Johnny and I filming on underwater cameras.'
0:00:31 > 0:00:33Hold on to your hats!
0:00:33 > 0:00:37'The plan is to predict where we think the whales will come up,
0:00:37 > 0:00:40'and make sure we're there waiting for them.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43'But with the whales moving at 20mph,
0:00:43 > 0:00:45'that's a tough task.'
0:00:45 > 0:00:48- There, though, there, right over there!- Get the gear up.
0:00:48 > 0:00:53'Suddenly the whale surfaces, just metres away from us.'
0:01:01 > 0:01:04'An animal I've waited a lifetime to encounter.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08'Very few people have ever managed to film them underwater.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12'It's a vast, blue shape in the crystal-clear seas.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14'Sunlight dapples its flanks.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17'It cruises past, barely seeming to move at all.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20'But no Olympic swimmer could ever keep pace.'
0:01:24 > 0:01:27'Both the whales and I have to surface to breathe,
0:01:27 > 0:01:29'but while I can dive for just minutes,
0:01:29 > 0:01:32'whales can disappear for an hour or more.'
0:01:34 > 0:01:37'This is our big chance. It's diving right in front of me.'
0:01:40 > 0:01:43'The tail flukes can be as broad as a bus,
0:01:43 > 0:01:47'yet swoosh past my eyes mere metres away.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49'It's disappearing to impossible depths
0:01:49 > 0:01:51'in search of krill to feed on,
0:01:51 > 0:01:53'and my lungs are bursting.'
0:01:56 > 0:01:58HE GASPS
0:01:58 > 0:02:03'Johnny and I head back to the big boat to check our shots.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06'But before we have a chance, another whale surfaces.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10'And this one is right alongside us.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12'We get kitted up in record time,
0:02:12 > 0:02:15'and jump straight off in hot pursuit.'
0:02:18 > 0:02:22At first, we think we might have missed it.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28'But then it practically swims over the top of us.'
0:02:32 > 0:02:37'This whale's more relaxed, less eager to return to the depths.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40'For a few seconds, we have the privilege of sharing the seas
0:02:40 > 0:02:43'with a true marine marvel,
0:02:43 > 0:02:47'as it blows out bad air and gulps in oxygen.'
0:02:52 > 0:02:54'I've never felt so tiny in my whole life.'
0:03:01 > 0:03:04'Then its nose drops and the tail flukes go up.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08'This one will be a deep dive,
0:03:08 > 0:03:11and I follow as far as I can.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14'But I'm just a temporary visitor here,
0:03:14 > 0:03:16'this is definitely a whale's world.'
0:03:21 > 0:03:22Whoo!
0:03:26 > 0:03:30That was like nothing I have ever seen before.
0:03:30 > 0:03:35Just a giant submarine cruising below us, and totally at ease.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38Didn't seem to care at all that we were there in its world,
0:03:38 > 0:03:42and I have never felt so utterly dwarfed
0:03:42 > 0:03:44by a living creature in my life.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47The largest animal that has ever lived.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51The blue whale, definitely on my list.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd