DRE: I am glad, but you should have told him. The whales are bigger than most boats and if they get p!ssed off, you have a lot of people in the water.
The whales do not have to obey rules, they ARE the rules, and as a gift to Man, we can sometimes share some of their majesty...
IF I remember correctly, the proper proceedure is to idle the engines and drift (which explaines DV8's chucking....(Poor thing!)...and if the whales are curious, then THEY can come closer, but it is up to them...
There was a case last year up near Turks & Caicos, I think, where some divers were near a whale and her calf...and apparently (whales do not talk much to reporters) the momma was napping and awoke with a start. Her tail whacked one of the divers either killing him or really hurting him...(I guess nobody here has ever been in a stall with a pure blood Hereford or Jersey bull that gets playful!!)
Distance is important....
HB