Competitive Pods, and Dolphins

Aloha,
If you didn’t get the chance to join us on any of our Whale Watch trips on Tuesday, you missed some incredible sightings! On our 10:00 Whale Watch from Kawaihae, guests saw 22 different Humpbacks, including two different Cow/Calf pairs, one accompanied by an escort. We also saw 2 different competitive pods, 5 breaches 3 spy hops, 4 tail lobs, 3 body lunges and 3 head lunges. If that wasn’t enough, we were mugged 3 times and we even saw Spinner Dolphins! When we deployed the hydrophone, the songs were really loud and clear. On our 3:00 Whales and Cocktails Cruise, we also saw 22 Humpbacks. We spent the beginning of the trip watching a Cow/Calf/Escort. Mom kept herself between the baby and the escort (which isn’t that unusual — it’s highly unlikely that he’s the father of the calf). Baby did approach us after breaching a few times, and showing us a couple of baby head lunges. We also watched a competitive pod of 5 whales swim right by us, and saw them breach twice, tail lob 5 times, and peduncle throw a couple more times.  And we heard the whale songs loud and clear when we deployed our hydrophone. As our naturalist Jonathan put it, “It was a GREAT day on the water”!
Share a GREAT day on the water with Ocean Sports. We offer Whale Watches, Snorkel Sails and Sunset Sails every day. Call 886-6666 ext. 103 or visit www.hawaiioceansports.com to reserve your great adventure today.
Humpback Whale Fact of the Day: Being mammals, Humpback Whales nurse their calves with a very rich milk. Supposedly this milk tastes like sweet cod liver oil (though I haven’t tried it myself)!
Mahalo,
Captain Claire

Fighting Humpbacks and Curious Calves

Aloha,
Whale Watchers joining us on our trips on Monday were treated to lots of interesting interactions between Cows and their Calves. On the 8:00 Breakfast with the Whales, we saw 12 different whales, but spent most of our time watching a very small calf who seemed very interested in us. Mom was not accompanied by an escort, and baby did all he could to check out our boat, while Mom did all she could to keep him away from us. Meanwhile, we couldn’t move the boat because after stopping about 250 yards from the duo, the baby decided to move closer and closer to us…until Mom finally decided she had enough and literally balanced her baby sideways on her rostrum (her head) and pushed him away from us! We also saw 8 breaches, and 2 pec slaps on that trip. We didn’t get to operate our regular schedule, but on our Afternoon Snorkel Sail we got to watch a competitive pod of 6 whales including a Cow/Calf pair. This time, Mom spent her time keeping baby on the opposite side of her from the amorous males. Later in that trip we watched a pod of two whales fighting! These whales also approached us and everyone on board watched as one of these big adults shoved the other with his head, and then the second whale made a quick turn, riling up the water and shoved right back before hitting the first whale with his flukes! We’re really not violent people, but whale fights are sure exciting to watch!
Join Ocean Sports on a Whale Watch, a Snorkel Trip or a Sunset Sail and experience the excitement for yourself! Call us at 886-6666 ext. 103 or visit www.hawaiioceansports.com to reserve your seat today.
Humpback Whale Fact of the Day: We’ve never witnessed a Humpback taking care of two calves. We know she could conceive twins (and whalers occasionally would find twin fetuses) but we doubt she could carry twins to term, and even if she could, we really doubt she could produce the 200 gallons of milk she’d need each day to feed two calves.
Mahalo,
Captain Claire

Humpbacks – Babies, Breaches, Lunges and Songs

Aloha,
The best word to describe this past weekend of whale watching is “Wow”! We started the day off on Friday with our 8:00 Breakfast with the Whales reporting 22 different whales. We spent a lot of time watching a very young calf playing with his mom on the surface. The baby made a couple attempts at breaching (which was really cute), but we also saw other whales breaching a total of 10 times! When we deployed the hydrophone, the songs we heard were really loud. On the 10:00 Whale Watch, guests saw 17 different whales, with one whale breaching 18 times. Our naturalist Jonathan said that he’s been seeing that particular breaching whale off and on for the last 3 weeks (based on his fluke markings, he’s easy to identify) and has named the whale “Hana Ho”. The guests also saw 2 spy hops, pec slaps and peduncle throws (the whole gamut of whale behaviors). On our 3:00 Whales and Cocktails, the highlights of the trip included 5 breaches just 400 yards from the boat, and 4 close encounters. On Saturday, we saw 20 different Humpbacks on our 8:00 Breakfast with the Whales, and lots of breaching and lunging from a competitive pod of 5 whales. And on Saturday’s Whales and Cocktails, guests saw 14 different whales, but we spent most of our time with a competitive pod, watching peduncle throws and lunges. On Sunday, guests aboard our 8:00 Breakfast with the Whales, saw 25 whales, 4 breaches, 6 peduncle throws and one Cow/Calf pair that most likely was accompanied by an escort. We never saw the escort, but Mom was acting pretty excited …lots of peduncle throws from her! On our 10:00 Whale Watch, guests saw 18 whales — and one of them slapped the water 26 times with his pectoral fin. By 3:00, the wind had filled in, but guests aboard our Whales and Cocktails trip saw 7 different whales and 8 peduncle throws. We also saw one fairly small calf.
Join Ocean Sports on a Whale Watch during the height of whale season in Hawaii for an adventure you’ll never forget. Call us at 886-6666 ext. 103 or visit www.hawaiioceansports.com to reserve your spot today.
Humpback Whale Fact of the Day: Humpback Whales have massive tongues. An 80,000 pound Humpback has a two-ton tongue!
Mahalo,
Captain Claire

Lots of Humpbacks and Lots of Surface Activity

Aloha,
We all had a lot of fun on Thursday’s Whale Watches. On the 8:00 Breakfast with the Whales trip on Seasmoke, we saw 35 Humpbacks, 2 competitive pods, 12 breaches from a sub-adult whale, pec slaps, head lunges, tail lobs and peduncle throws. Our hydrophone allowed us to listen in to some very close-by and very loud songs. On our 10:00 Whale Watch, guests saw 18 whales, 6 breaches, 6 spy hops, 3 body lunges, 4 head lunges and 4 Cow/Calf pairs, one of whom was accompanied by an escort. On our 3:00 Whales and Cocktails cruise we saw 16 whales, 4 breaches, 7 tail lobs, 2 pec slaps and we also got to hear some really loud songs.
Join the friendly crew of Ocean Sports for a whale watch you’ll never forget. Call us at 886-6666 ext. 103, or visit www.hawaiioceansports.com to reserve your adventure today.
Humpback Whale Fact of the Day: Being mammals, Humpback Moms feed their calves milk. But Humpback milk isn’t just any old milk — it’s extremely rich with a fat content of approximately 50%! Human milk is only about  4.5% fat.
Mahalo and have a wonderful weekend!
Captain Claire

Laughing Humpbacks

Aloha,
Wednesday brought us some great whale action. On our 8:00 Breakfast with the Whales, we saw 15 different whales and got to watch a competitive pod form before our eyes. It began with 2 whales (and we watched as a third joined in). About 10 minutes later, we were MUGGED by a whale who on his way to join our trio, seemed interested enough in us to swim back and forth right under the boat twice giving all of us a great view — if whales could laugh, this whale probably would have been giggling as he watched 49 people run from side to side on the boat to see him). Shortly after that, we had a close encounter with 2 more whales who surfaced about 50 feet from us and joined the rest of the gang. We also got to see 7 breaches, 12 pec slaps, 2 peduncle throws — and when we deployed the hydrophone, the singing was loud! At 10:00, guests on our Whale Watch from Kawaihae saw 22 different Humpbacks, 3 breaches, 3 tail slaps and 2 cow/calf pods. They also got to hear a whale symphony — and had one close encounter.
Want to be part of the action? Join Ocean Sports on any of our daily whale watches. Call 886-6666 ext. 103 or visit www.hawaiioceansports.com and reserve a spot today.
Humpback Whale Fact of the Day: The gestation period for a Humpback whale is between 10 and 11 months, which means the calves we’re seeing this year were conceived last winter.
Mahalo,
Captain Claire

The Prints of Whales

Aloha,
Both of Tuesday’s Whale Watches were really pretty incredible. On our 10:00 Whale Watch from Kawaihae, guests saw 20 different Humpbacks, 5 breaches, 2 tail lobs and 3 pec slaps. But the highlight had to be when we encountered a pod of 7 whales (we’re guessing 6 males and a female) in a competitive pod (a.k.a. “heat run”). These whales showed us 4 complete body lunges and 6 head lunges as they jockied for position amongst each other. At 3:00, our Whales & Cocktails cruise reports 25 different whales — and many of them were in pods of 3. We saw 6 full breaches about 150 yards from the boat! And when our breacher started to tire, he (or she) started head lunging. Meanwhile, another whale close by rolled over on his back and performed 8 double pec slaps and a few more single pec slaps. We also saw 2 Cow/Calf pods — and when the first baby tried to approach the boat, we watched as a HUGE footprint appeared less than 25 feet from the boat. When the whales surfaced again, Mom had taken her baby away from us.
Join Ocean Sports on a whale watch and see the action for yourself. Call us at 886-6666 ext. 103 or visit www.hawaiioceansports.com to reserve your adventure today.
Humpback Whale Fact of the Day: The smooth round flat spot we see on the water after a whale dives is called the “footprint”. Whalers thought it was caused by oil from the whale’s skin calming the surface of the water, but water samples have proven that theory to be false. When a whale dives (or kicks just below the surface) his flukes break the surface tension of the water and create a vertical wake, forming the footprint.
Mahalo,
Captain Claire

More Humpback Babies

Aloha,
What a fun day we had on the water on Monday! Our 8:00 Whales & Cocktails cruise reports seeing 20 different whales. Guests watched a competitive pod of 6 whales (most probably 5 males and one female) chasing each other down the coast. They saw too many pec slaps, tail lobs and lunges to even count. Angelica, our naturalist aboard that trip also reports a close encounter with two whales who came right up to our boat to check us out! On the 3:00 Whales and Cocktails, our guests also had a close encounter with 2 whales who swam about 75 yards from the boat. And they got to see a couple of breaches, some tail lobs and some peduncle throws but their favorite sighting was of a Mom and her very, very young baby. Like all baby animals, whale calves are really pretty active and very cute — our baby made a few attempts at breaching,
Join Ocean Sports for a Whale Watch Adventure you’ll never forget! Call 886-6666 ext. 103 or visit www.hawaiioceansports.com to reserve your adventure today.
Humpback Whale Fact of the Day:  Humpback whales can’t cry — they don’t have tear ducts (they don’t need them — their eyes are always bathed in salt water) but they do have glands on their outer corneas which secrete an oily substance that helps to protect their eyes from debris in the ocean.
Mahalo,
Captain Claire

Mamas and Babies

Aloha,
It was another great weekend for whale watching! Beginning with Friday’s trips…our 8:00 Breakfast with the Whales reports seeing 13 whales mostly concentrated just offshore of the Hilton Waikoloa Village. Guests saw 9 breaches, 4 head lunges, 3 tail lobs, 4 pectoral slaps and had 2 close encounters with our Humpback friends. At 10:00, guests on our Whale Watch from Kawaihae saw 17 different whales, 3 breaches, 4 tail lobs and interestingly, of the 17 sightings, they report 4 different Cow/Calf pods. On our 3:00 Whales & Cocktails, Captain Will reports that the highlight of the trip was when the boat was circled by a Cow/Calf/Escort pod. Guests also saw several breaches just about 400 yards from the boat, and too many tail lobs to count! On Saturday, we saw more action, with the 3:00 Whales & Cocktails trip reporting an astounding 35 different Humpbacks in sight! Besides seeing about 12 breaches in the distance, Angelica, our naturalist aboard that trip, reports a couple of close encounters from two different pods of 3 adult whales, and lots of great fluke I.D.ing opportunities as the whales sounded nearby. On Sunday, we ran a different schedule, so though we don’t have numbers to report, we can say that a LOT of guests saw a LOT of Humpbacks!
Join us on a Whale Watch and see the action for yourself. Ocean Sports offers 3 trips daily just to see the Humpbacks! Call us at 886-6666 ext. 103 or visit www.hawaiioceansports.com to reserve your adventure today.
Humpback Whale Fact of the Day: A Humpback Whale doesn’t reach sexual maturity till it’s about 35 feet long (age 5 or 6 for females, and a little bit later for males).  Researchers believe that most Humpbacks don’t begin calving successfully till they’re at least 10 years old.
Mahalo,
Captain Claire

Lots of Baby Whales, and lots of Close-by Action

Aloha,
Thursday was a great day for whale watching. On our 8:00 Breakfast with the Whales cruise, guests saw 13 different whales and a lot of the sightings seemed to be concentrated in an area just off the Hilton Waikoloa Village. Our naturalist on the trip, Ryan, reports 9 breaches, 4 head lunges, 3 tail slap and 2 pec slaps. On our 10:00 Whale Watch, guests saw 17 whales, 3 breaches, and 4 tail lobs. Jonathan, our naturalist aboard that trip said that they saw 4 pods of 2 whales consisting of Mom and her Baby. They also got to see the Humpbacks little cousins; the Spinner Dolphins.On our 3:00 Whales & Cocktails cruise, Captain Will reported an interesting phenomenon. He said that throughout the cruise, when ever he’d turn the boat engines off and drift, the whales surfaced very close by. The first time he did that, guests saw a Mom, her baby and an escort surface about 100 feet away. They swam right along the side of the boat towards the stern, and then circled back behind the boat, surfacing again close to the stern… and the same thing happened with another pod of whales later in the trip! Guests at 3:00 also saw two breaches about 400 yards away, and several tail lobs. When the hydrophone was deployed, everyone could hear the whales vocalizing and singing.
Join Ocean Sports for a Whale Watch during the height of the Whale Watch Season (which, based on the last few days of observations, has already begun)! Call us at 886-6666 ext 103 or visit www.hawaiioceansports.com to reserve your adventure.
Humpback Whale Fact of the Day:  Humpback Whales and Spinner Dolphins are actually related — they’re both classified under the scientific order of “Cetacean”. But they’re in different sub-orders. Humpbacks are baleen whales, classified in the sub-order called “Mysticete”. Spinner Dolphins are classified as toothed whales, in the sub-order “Odontocete”.
Mahalo and Have a Great Weekend!
Captain Claire

Surprised by a Curious Humpback

Aloha,
All 3 Whale Watch Cruises on Wednesday reported seeing a lot of whales and a lot of surface activity! On our 8:00 Breakfast with the Whales cruise, guests saw 14 different whales, but the favorite sighting was of a Mom/Baby who came over to the boat to investigate. The also saw a head lunge and a breach from different whales. Our 10:00 Whale Watch reports seeing 17 different Humpbacks. The count was confirmed by our Junior Whale Naturalist, Sloan, who helped us keep track of what we were seeing (Mahalo, Sloan — we hope you consider a career in Marine Sciences — we think you’d be very good at it). Guests at 10:00 also report seeing 4 breaches, 3 tail lobs, and 2 peduncle throws. On the 3:00 Whales & Cocktails, guests were gazing off to the starboard side of the boat to look for whales when EVERYONE was surprised by a whale who spouted right off the port side. The whale then dove under the boat, hovered there, apparently looking at all of us looking at him (or her) before surfacing right next to us on the starboard side. Another dive, another hover right beneath us, and another surface on the port side seemed to satisfy that whale’s curiosity, because s/he then swam away. Later in the trip, guests had another close encounter with 2 whales who spouted about 100 feet away and then swam right along side the boat! Our naturalist aboard that trip reports a total of 15 whales sighted, 1 head lunge and one breach.
Join Ocean Sports on any of our 3 daily Whale Watch Cruises departing from 2 different locations within the Hawaii Islands National Marine Sanctuary Waters. Call us at 886-6666 ext. 103 or visit www.hawaiioceansports.com and reserve your adventure today.
Humpback Whale Fact of the Day: When a Humpback spouts, he’s exhaling in a half of a second, 90% of the volume of air in his lungs. It’s enough air in one blow to fill up the interior of a stretch limousine. In case you’re curious, when an average size adult exhales, he takes 3 times as long to exhale just 15% of the volume of air in his lungs — and an adult exhalation wouldn’t even fill up a Smart Car — it’s only enough air to fill up a lunch bag.
Mahalo,
Captain Claire