There’s no evidence to suggest that pilot whales are more aggressive than other whales, but judging by this encounter, researchers might want to revisit that topic. This snorkeler was swimming with a pod of pilot whales off the coast of Hawaii when they suddenly started behaving aggressively.

They shoved her a little bit at first, but she managed to get away. Just when things looked like they were calming down, one of the whales grabbed her by the ankle and dragged her 30 feet underwater.

Talk about a traumatic experience.

(source: Animal Planet )

I guess you could also say that the whale was being playful, but something about this footage makes me think otherwise. When you’re on a huge animal’s turf, it’s probably best to leave it alone.