章 238: Calm morning seas

The sound of something massive breaching the surface off the port bow excited Norton Coats as the thought that the first rays of the morning's light were going to bring with them his first whale sighting, putting a perfect cap on his long twelve-hour-long night shift as captain.

Looking to his left out the enormous glass windows of the bridge Norton expected to see a plume of hot breath mixed with water as the large aquatic mammal he thought hard just surfaced to take a breath spouted out the stale air it held in its lungs, or a wall of water raining back down onto the waves following the splashy reentry into the water the whale made after breaching.