It was the end of January, and I was the 4-8 watch officer on an oceanographic ship working near the Hawaiian islands of Kahoolawe and Maui. Listening to a Sean Na'auao CD and enjoying the beautiful sunset, a sudden movement broad on our starboard bow caught my attention. About 200 yards away, a grayish-black behemoth of the deep rose out of the water, its rippled skin and long "arm" fins identifying it as an adult humpback whale. The whale breached majestically, framed by the blue Hawaiian sky and the fading orange-green winter light. Concerned there might be other whales nearby, I throttled down to zero rpms and put the z-drives in neutral. Not a minute later, a V-shaped tail came up out of the water and slapped a "hello" on the surface before the whale returned to the deep.
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