When a humpback whale began playing with Nan Hauser like a toy, she feared the worst. The 50,000-pound mammal swam toward the marine biologist and began to push her forward.
Nan had been deep-sea diving for 28 years, but had never known a whale like this. It seemed to keep throwing Nan on its head and back. Most of all, it wanted to keep Nan under its pectoral fin（胸鳍）. For ten tense minutes, the whale lifted Nan out of the ocean. She tried to keep cool and calm, but she was aware that at any moment, the whale could break her bones or organs. She smelt death.
Nan believed the encounter would not end well. Fortunately for her, it did! The whale left her alone long enough for her to surface and return to her research vessel.
Onboard the boat, she saw a 15-foot-long tiger shark swimming quietly on the other side of the whale. The heroic humpback wasn't playing with her or attacking her. It was protecting her from a deadly predator. Nan later learned that at the same time, another humpback whale was busy keeping the shark at bay. She was moved to tears.
In another story, biologist Adam Warwick saved a black bear from drowning.
When the authorities saw a bear wandering around the streets of Florida, they shot a tranquilizer dart（麻药枪）into the 375-pound hungry male, but he escaped into the Gulf of Mexico. The bear was attempting to swim four miles across the harbor. But after just 25 yards, he began to struggle.
Realizing the bear would drown, Adam jumped into the water immediately. He got in front of the bear and began splashing and shouting to try to make him turn around. In a panic, the bear attempted to attack Adam. The six-foot-tall bear reared up, but then fell backward underwater. Adam wrapped his arms around the half-awake animal's neck. Keeping the bear's head above water, he dragged him to safety.
