“Keep to the markers on the way out,” Rob said. “There are a few shallow spots over there.” He pointed. “This girl will turn on a dime which will get you out of any tight spots.”
Sam smiled. He doubted the boat was quite that responsive, but he appreciated Rob’s passion. Below Gretchen handed out stinger suits and goggles, snorkel and flippers to half the customers, and one of the crew was chatting with the other half.
Time went quickly as Sam absorbed the information from Rob. When the last customer jumped into the water for their first snorkel, Rob pointed to one person who was splashing more than necessary. “She’s not confident,” Rob said. “Might need to give her a pool noodle before we get to the whales.”
“Do any of them get upset about the offer?”
“Not usually. Not when we say it’ll make life easier for them, one less stress when faced with a whale.” He chuckled.
Good point. He hadn’t swum with a humpback whale yet. “What’s it like?”
“When they’re as interested in you as you are in them, it’s magical,” Rob said. “They’ll come and check you out. They choose whether they want to swim with you, not the other way around, and there’s nothing we can do about it.”
Sam nodded. That’s how it should be. He didn’t want to give any animal anxiety by being there. Especially not a mumma humpback protecting her calf. The radio burst to life and Rob gestured him over. “That’ll be our eye in the sky.” He grabbed the radio and said, “Morning, Jasmine. You found anything yet?”
A female voice replied, “Got a pod a couple of kilometres north of your location heading your way.”
“Roger. Keep us informed.”
Sam was yet to meet everyone. “Jasmine sub-contracts to us?”
Rob nodded. “She goes up at nine-thirty, looks around and tells us where we need to be.”
“And she’s in a glider?”
“Yeah. Between nine-thirty and ten-thirty she’s ours and then she takes her own passengers up. But she’s always on call if we need her.”
The passengers returned and while the crew served morning tea, Sam and Rob motored towards the pod of whales.
It didn’t take long to spot them in the distance and Sam heard the excited shouts of the passengers below as they watched the whales frolicking.
“We can’t go in yet, right?” Sam asked. “Too dangerous with them frolicking.”
“Right. We’ll pull as close as we’re allowed and let the passengers watch, and hopefully the whales will settle so we can get in.”
Rob had sent him the licence and Sam had studied it, wanting to be clear on the rules. “So we avoid mums and their calves. No going near breeching or tail flipping and the boat is only allowed a hundred metres on the side of the whales.”
“Yeah, and three hundred metres in front or behind them.”
It was half an hour before the whales settled and the first group of swimmers entered the water. In the distance, on the other side of the pod, another tour boat was similarly letting their swimmers in. Sam monitored his group of seven, making sure they were all right, and no one was in trouble. He moved the boat so he was ahead of where the whale would swim and the second group jumped in while he motored over to pick up the first group.
Even from the top deck he could hear the delighted chatter as the first group of swimmers climbed onto the marlin board. He’d have to try it soon. The whale shark he’d seen when he’d gone out a couple of months ago had been impressive enough, but the whales were far larger.
At the end of the hour Sam headed to pick up the last passengers. Rob swore and pointed. “Orca.”
Sam gasped as a single large fin broke the water. The whales scattered and Sam focused on getting to his passengers as fast as possible. Gretchen was in the water with them and she had already started grouping them together so they could get onto the boat quickly. Sam’s muscles were tight as he drove, options running through his head.
“It’s unusual to see one by itself, so there might be more around,” Rob said. “It’s after the calves.”
The knowledge didn’t make it any less stressful. The last thing Sam needed was to lose a customer on his first day of owning the damn business. Any one of them could be crushed by a panicked whale. He stopped, put the boat into neutral, counting each passenger as they got on board. Gretchen was the last one on and she gave him the thumbs up. He breathed out a sigh of relief. Rob clapped him on the shoulder and laughed. “Bit of excitement for the first day, hey?”
Sam shook his head. “More than I was after.” He waited until one of the other crew members confirmed the count and then moved to go.
“Wait.” Rob grabbed his arm. “Watch.”
The orca was still after the calf. Down below the passengers cheered mum and baby on as the orca closed the distance. The rest of the pod was running interference, but it didn’t look as if it was going to work. The baby was falling behind.
Sam gritted his teeth as he urged the calf faster. His hand gripped the throttle. Could he get the boat in between the orca and the calf? Would it endanger his passengers?
