26 September 2010 – Ha’apai Group, Kingdom of Tonga
I got up early so as to be out of bed before our visitors, but only Sio was up, reading in the cockpit. Salesi & Micah slept until we left at 0840. Another delightful sail with cloudier skies than our sail to Limu yesterday, much of it upwind, but they were light winds so we carried all sail & made good time. The boys stayed topside & were rewarded with seeing turtles, whales, & dolphins - not bad! We took Migration into the harbor at Lifuka in order to shorten the dinghy ride; those hungry Tongans were anxious to get to their Sunday umu feast, since we hadn’t fed them nearly their usual quantities of food. We immediately weighed anchor & headed to Foa so we can dive with Beach House tomorrow.
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| On the way out of the north pass, under jib alone, we encountered a mother & calf humpback. The mother was slapping the water with her fin, so they were easy to spot. We quickly furled the jib, I grabbed my mask & fins, & jumped over in my undies. They were lounging lazily on the surface, so I swam to the head of the mother so she could see me & not be spooked. The calf, who was probably only 15' long, swam continually around the mother's body, splashing on the surface & taking no notice of me. I could see the mother watching me. Unfortunately the visibility wasn't that great, so I don't know if the photos will come out…. |
| I didn't go closer than about 30', even though I wanted to, but I also didn’t want to scare them off so BB could have a chance to swim with them. I stayed in the water until BB brought the boat close saying "I want a turn!" He got in the water & enjoyed a little more activity on the part of the calf; a few breaches & attempts at fin slapping. Then it was my turn again. As I was swimming towards them, the mother breached FULLY OUT OF THE WATER right in front of me. The water shook with the force of her re-entry. I was stunned & also a bit freaked out. I probably wasn’t as close as it seemed, but from water level, she looked really huge out of the water like that. She was as tall as a building & I felt very small. I looked for her underwater in case she should breach again. I stayed in the same place so she would be aware of my location as I certainly didn't want her accidentally breaching on top of me. I was relieved when she soon surfaced to blow a distance away. |  |
 | Then the baby began breaching repeatedly, although not with the same height as the mother. Then the mother began tail slapping! Wow! That’s the first time we’ve ever seen that... She cups her tail to make a better clapping sound. It was loud both above & below the water. She executed a dozen or more heaving tail slaps that shook the water around me. Meanwhile, the calf was on the other side of me doing sloppy baby breaches. I didn't know which way to look or where to point the camera - there was so much going on! I was in ecstasy, but also respectfully fearful, & kept a reasonable distance from this incredible display. I wanted BB to experience this amazing feeling of euphoria at being a part of something so spectacular, but unfortunately when he got back in, they were resting again. |
It certainly seems to us that the mother is teaching the calf the various whale behaviors, & we got to witness it firsthand. We were high on life & the rest of the day kept saying how lucky we are to be able to see whales at such close range. I honestly didn't think it could get any better than being in the water with a singing male, but clearly I was wrong. It just keeps getting better.
says ADR
