It is a Female and her baby. As we had learned we slowly approach them until the whales are accustomed to us. We can see the baby drinking milk, so we know they’re at ease.
I tell Emma that this is the chance of a lifetime. I have to pilot the boat, but someone has got to go and swim with the little fella. Emma hesitates one second, after all it's getting dark and swimming all alone in the ocean at dusk is not highly recommended, but then jumps in! (edit: it seems that a tourist from Denmark got bitten by a shark just last week while swimming in Tonga with the Whales).
What happened next was amazing: the baby whale stayed away just far enough so that Emma couldn't it underwater and then turned straight at Emma. Circled Emma a bit as if to say hello, I'm a whale, what are you?
The whale is tiny, no longer than 3 meters. It must be brand new, a few days old maybe. Emma kept circling and looking at it for a while; she even took some awesome pictures.
Mum was never far away and kept a very close eye on me and on Emma but allowed the interaction.
Back on the boat Emma was shaking with emotion, I could see she was touched by the encounter. The fact that such a magnificent beast allows its young to observe, interact and explore is just out of this world.
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