It was a sunny morning; the sea was calm and its waters transparent; a perfect day to start our activities with our fearless snorkelers. It was interesting to see how little by little, as we swam towards the second beach, we could see more and more sharks swimming in our same direction. The surprise was even greater, when upon reaching the beach, a huge blue whale about 18 meters long, was stranded, or rather, trapped in the rocks. We could see this majestic creature, flapping its fins trying to free itself, but everything seemed useless.

We asked the captain for help, and afterwards four Zodiacs arrived with two crew members each and in a few minutes it was possible to tie the whale's tail with a rope. Each of the 40 HP outboard motors began to work in sync, and little by little the whale was towed off the rocks. For more than 15 minutes the engines did not slow down, until it was finally released and then towed into deeper waters, right between the channel that divides the Bartolome and Santiago islands. About 200 meters from shore, the whale began to swim faster and faster, away from shore, and after a few minutes, she began to sink very slowly.

Those of us aboard the Zodiacs began to despair when we noticed that the engines did not respond to the immense force with which the whale was pulling us. The Zodiacs began to collide with each other and at that moment two crew members fell into the sea when they tried to cut the rope with their knives. The strength of the whale was such that the Zodiacs were getting upright; It was at that precise moment that one of the sailors was able to hold the rope and cut it in a matter of seconds.

Those tense minutes disappeared and calm returned to us; fear turned to joy, and joy turned to admiration, as we contemplated a spectacular and surreal scene of the whale sinking underwater, splashing her immense tail fin, finally disappearing into the depths of the ocean.

We picked up the two friends from the sea, and as we headed back on board, we remembered details of what our unforgettable encounter with that blue whale was like. We remembered the size of her eyes, much bigger than a shoe; how slimy was it grey skin and how gentle it was while we rescued it. Maybe I forget other details, but what I will never forget is that this day was memorable for all of us.