Most Popular Baby Names - Names and their Meanings

 by: Constance Weygandt

Did you ever have a moment in time when you think to yourself, “This is it. This is the moment. Life just can’t get any better.” And then, it does. Such a moment happened to me, last week, while whale watching in Ma’alaea Bay on the Alii Nui.

It was a gorgeous day out on the water. The weather could not have been more perfect and the whale sightings were plentiful. It was a day when total strangers are your friends. We had all shared the experience of seeing these powerful mammals arcing out of the water and diving back in. (This is called breaching.) We had even seen a baby whale heading towards our catamaran until the mother herded her away. I was relaxing against the side of the boat, enjoying the warm breeze and contemplating the perfection of the moment. The activity of the whales had died down and it was almost time to return to the harbor, when Captain Chris yelled, “She’s coming back. The baby’s coming back.”

Baby and Mama and an unknown male were headed towards us. Diane, a crew member, explained that the unknown male was not the father but a stray male hoping to get lucky. At this, the woman next to me and I rolled our eyes. I said what we were both thinking, “Good luck guy. Mama has recently given birth to several tons of baby whale. I’m thinking, not gonna happen.” The excitement was palatable on the boat as the whales got closer and closer. Then, all three passed right under us. We could see all of their outlines through a watery x-ray type of effect. Baby looked to be a little bigger than Mama’s head. Mama looked like a submarine next to baby. Our exhilaration grew as they made one pass after another, three in total.   (continued...)

Bringing Up Baby: Communing With A Humpback Whale
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