Author: Beginer Subhan (IPB)

"Bun, let's wake up!" I said to my room-mate, Ubun (WCS). It was already 6 a.m. local time, and the Sea Team and I had to leave for our first dive at Romang Island an hour later. Ubun wakes up immediately and we rush up to the dining room, which is located on the middle deck just above the bedroom. In our excitement, we didn't realize that the ship hadn't actually stopped and was still moving quite fast from the Wetar Strait to Romang Island. We also felt a little annoyed for 'getting ready'.

But the annoyance did not last long. Suddenly we heard the relaxed voice of Rifai, Chief of Seven Seas 1, who asked, "Do you want to see whales?" Ubun and I were surprised and for a moment were silent. The mouth could not speak as if it was locked tightly. Without uttering a single word, I immediately moved to the dining room, grabbed my camera and rushed to the top deck of the ship.

"There are two whales," Rifai continued, pointing to the sunrise, which happened to be in the same direction as the bow of the ship. I immediately pointed my camera lens in the direction of the 33-year-old man's index finger. Sure enough, two Sperm Whales (Physeter macrocephalus) are clearly visible, swimming slowly to the south. My right index finger kept pressing the camera's shutter button to take photos and even record videos, until a few minutes later the two marine mammals exhaled air through their blowholes, waved their fins as if signaling 'see you later' to us, then finally dived deeper and no longer showed their body parts on the surface of the water.

Finally, after the disappointing incident with the Blue Whale two days ago, I got a second chance to capture one of the historic moments in my life. [Read also: Whales and Cameras (1)]

Unlike the Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus), the Sperm Whale is the world's largest toothed whale that hunts squid to depths of more than 2000 meters. According to the IUCN Red List, this marine mammal is protected with a conservation status of 'vulnerable' to extinction (vulnerable). Long ago, during the heyday of whaling, the industrialized world targeted sperm whales for their spermaceti oil - which can be found inside the head - and used as a raw material for candle making.