The Navy recently found itself with a very important, very impromptu mission: protect a pair of friendly whales at all costs.
A humpback whale and her calf wandered near the shores of Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, on Sunday morning. Numerous witnesses called Navy Region Hawaii, which oversees the harbor and its surrounding military bases, to alert officials of the unexpected visitors, and the Navy immediately called for all hands on deck.
The military base's Port Operations and Harbor Patrol teams notified nearby Navy vessels, who were instructed to keep a "respectful distance" while "protecting what turned out to be a cow/calf pair," Navy Region Hawaii staffers wrote on Facebook.
Every year from November through May, humpback whales travel in droves from Alaska to the warm waters of Hawaii in order to mate and give birth.
Whale sightings are fairly common in the isles this time of year, and David Schofield, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, says it's pretty normal for a whale to bring her calf close to shore.
While it's not clear if this particular duo was trying to get a closer look at the USS Arizona Memorial -- one of the island's most revered attractions -- we're just happy that the Navy was around to make sure the whales wandered the harbor safely.
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