‘Tag me if you can!’, a school yard taunt remembered from long ago. Yet here we are again playing that game of dare, chase and tag on a scale un-imagined from a landlocked childhood.

Who would have thought we would encounter Humpback whales both adept and eager to play our boyhood game.

We’d swim away and they would chase getting oh so close as near enough to snort, ‘tagged you, you’re it!’. W’ed chase them back and the two big males would frolic just out of range long enough to prove who’s winning here before accepting the tag again.

We played this game over and over until we were worn out and they were just getting started. Finally they both chased us back to the boat and with one last snort declared ‘tagged you, you’re it’.

We left with ‘the tag’, I’m sure we left them with whale winning grins.

Photo: Robert Rath, ‘Tag Me’ 1/320s f/10 ISO320 15mm