9/8/2015
We have moved to #7 (Maurelle Bay) today to prepare for pickup by Kiwi Magic for an opportunity to "swim with the whales" tomorrow.
SWIMMING WITH THE WHALES:
We were picked up with Craig and Karene (Il Sogna "Italian for the Dream") for the day's events. It didn't take us long to find some whales, but getting in the water with them was a challenge. Males were running with a mom and calf to mate and they were moving FAST. We all acted as spotters and the skipper and his mate would try to estimate the direction of travel and speed so they could drop us off in the water along this path. We took 9 dives and were skunked 2 times. It's an interesting process: spot the whales; pick you path; get on the back of the boat with one foot outside and one inside; wait for the mate to yell "go, go" and hit the water heading the direction of the whales; look down an see what there is to see; then head back to the boat; get pulled aboard; then start all over again. It was pretty crazy during this time. We were out until about 3 pm. The goal is to find a mom and calf moving slowly and playing without males around trying to bother them. There is always a competition between filming the event and experiencing the event. You can't do both effectively. I opted for "seeing" over "filming". But I got some pictures on the GO PRO which was the perfect "retirement" gift from my great friends at the Office. But not many. I wish I could send them back to the States to share but they are just too big to be handled by the broadband in the islands so far. Maybe in Australia?

All and all, it was a great time. And it may be the last time; Tonga is seriously discussing stopping any contact "near" whales. Different folks have different views. For myself, it is clear that everyone here is very careful and respectful of the whales, their space and breeding grounds.