Once in Byron Bay, I was in a bar overlooking the beach with a friend, who at the time had a problem with alcohol so we were only drinking soft drinks. At one moment, we both glanced out of the large windows in front of the bar towards the sea and about fifty meters away saw the huge tail of a whale coming out of the water in what seemed like slow motion. It then hit the water's surface with a huge splash and disappeared. We were instantly intoxicated by the utterly unexpected circumstances of such an oceanic vision.