Some encounters reach past the barriers that keep humans separate from the inner world of wildlife, revealing the fragility of the lines between us and our wild kin. When Ariel, a young juvenile sperm whale, and her mother welcomed me into their lives for a day, it left me questioning whether those lines exist at all. The calf had me doubled over laughing as she mouthed my camera and playfully chased me across the surface while her mother continued to doze, evidently enjoying the free babysitting.