After days of watching blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda), dive in the distance, our moment arrives. We kill the boat engine and just sit quietly drifting 7 kilometers of the coast. We get a visual on a blue whale about 200 meters in front heading away from us. It surfaces with a huge blow, then as if it is meant to be, it turns towards us. Everyone onboard remains completely silent. I start to gear up, slipping on my fins, mask and grab my camera, check my f-stop and slip over the side as quietly as possible into the blue.