Here I was looking into the eyes of a mother and calf—seemingly just floating with nothing but the waves disturbing the stillness. Then slowly we all began to swim in the same direction. They were going slow enough that I could keep up—my eyes gazing deep into theirs as we swam side by side. It was then that I realized that we weren’t alone. I turned my head to see an escort whale was swimming on the other side of me. I was surrounded—swimming in what now felt like our own little pod. In that moment I felt like I was more a part of the ocean and this earth than ever before.