WITNESS: A whale of a time in the Indian Ocean

Ed Harris has been reporting for Reuters in East Africa since May 2004, filing from Kenya, Djibouti, Eritrea, and the Indian Ocean region. A British citizen, he has been sending text, photos, and video from Mauritius for 18 months. In the following story, he recounts a chance and very rare meeting with a pod of sperm whales just off the coast of Mauritius.

By Ed Harris

PORT LOUIS (Reuters) - Massaging in factor 20 suncream as we sped out to sea to film the disappearing lives of Mauritian fishermen, I had no idea I was about to risk my own.

Everything was going to plan, I was thinking, still sleepy from a three o'clock alarm. When, with dawn stretching yellow and red across the sky, my companion called out "Whales!" I thought: here comes another distant sighting I'm going to miss. How will I keep my equipment dry on this shoot?

Then perhaps 50 or 100 meters away, I could see them. Maybe half a dozen of the animals lazing around on the surface, blowing out spray, gulping in air, including a 20-metre male slapping his tail on the water.

My companion jumped in to join them.

I followed him.

READER, I FOLLOWED HIM

When I go diving here, the moment of entry is usually followed by immediate calm. That wasn't happening now.