Whale of A Tail!

I have gone whale watching quite a few times in the past ten years, but I had an experience a couple of days ago that I will never forget.  My son just bought a new boat and wanted to take us out in the channel between Maui and Lanai.  The trade winds had died down and it was a perfect day to go out in the calm Hawaiian waters.  We had been out for a couple of hours and had not seen any whales.  Since it is near the end of the whale season and they are migrating back to Alaska, we figured there weren't too many around and probably would not see any that day.  However, just at that moment, my son spotted a pod of whales just ahead of us.  There were seven huge humpback whales.  We spent about forty minutes watching them slap their tales and perform one breech after another.  It was really thrilling to be close enough to hear their breath when they would spout.  One whale did a full breech with a 360 degree spin, which was surreal!  It was a wonderful day I will never forget.