At nine o'clock. My directional watch must be out of kilter. I see nothing. Severo cuts the engine, as he must according to Brazilian law when the boat comes within 100 meters of a whale. Everyone grows very quiet.
Waves lap against the orange tubes of our boat.
After several minutes, a woman in our group can stand it no longer. She's itching under her life vest and cries out for help. A friend comes to the rescue with a well-placed scratch. The crew seems to take the broken silence as a signal. Fabiana has received a radio report of a group of three whales up further north.