Humpback Babies and a whale of a fight!

Aloha,
Guests aboard both our 10:00 Whale Watch on Alala and our 3:00 Whales & Cocktails cruise report seeing a Cow and Calf (which is what we call mother and baby whale, though from now on I’ll stick with the unofficial “mom and baby” labels). At 10:00, our Mom let her baby actually come close by the boat to investigate us! We saw a total of 15 whales on that trip, and had one breach within a couple hundred yards of the boat — and saw 5 other breaches off on the horizon. At 3:00, our Mom and Baby were accompanied by 2 other whales. The closer whale (the primary escort) spent more than 30 minutes fighting with the other whale — at one point we could see them banging into each other and one actually lifting the other (think “WWF Wrestling). Eventually the 4th whale gave up and swam away…we also saw 2 breaches within 300 yards of the boat and a couple of peduncle throws.
See the action for yourself! Ocean Sports operates whale watches daily from 2 different locations within the Hawaii islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Waters. Call 886-6666 ext 103 or visit www.hawaiioceansports.com to get in on the fun.
Humpback Whale Fact of the Day: We frequently see Mom and Baby whale accompanied by a third whale. We used to think it was a female helping mom take care of her baby, but now that we can identify gender more easily, we know it isn’t. It’s a male — not Dad — but a “wanna-be” Dad. Mom is capable of getting pregnant right after she gives birth (though she usually waits a year between pregnancies).
Mahalo,
Captain Claire

Close Encounters, Breaches, and Surface Activity

Aloha,
Monday’s whale watches can be characterized by one of our favorite behaviors: Close Encounters of the Humpback Kind! On our 10:00 Whale Watch from Kawaihae, guests saw a variety of behaviors from 7 different whales – 5 tail lobs, 2 body lunges, 2 pec slaps and 2 peduncle throws, but for more than 20 minutes, they got to watch a Humpback apparently enamored with one of our dive-site mooring balls. As the boat hovered nearby, the whale swam around and around that mooring ball! At 3:00, our Whales & Cocktails cruise reports seeing somewhere around 20 different whales (sometimes it’s difficult to count) and a couple of pec slaps, but they had a close enounter with 3 whales. Captain Will said they saw the whales in the beginning of the cruise so he shut down the boat engines when he was about 150 yards from the whales, but the whales disappeared. He decided to go look for other whales. After he left, the guests looking behind the boat saw the whales surface again, so Captain Will turned the boat around and motored to 150 yards of them, but this time he left the engines on (in neutral, so the props weren’t turning). Apparently the whales liked the boat noise because they came over to investigate, giving us another close encounter! Oh — and our 8:00 Breakfast with the Whales cruise didn’t have a close encounter, but they did see 13 different whales, with 2 close-by breaches from the same whale! They also saw 3 pec slaps and got in the right place to see some beautiful fluke dives.
Join Ocean Sports and see the Whales. We offer 2 cruises daily just for whale watching, but this time of year, you’ll see whales from our Black Sand Snorkel Sails and our Sunset Sails!  Call 886-6666 ext. 103 or visit www.hawaiioceansports.com to reserve your adventure today.
Humpback Whale Fact of the Day: We know Humpbacks are big animals, but it’s not until we have a CLOSE ENCOUNTER that we really appreciate how big they are. But Humpbacks are only the 5th largest of the great whales — Blue whales, Finbacks, Grays, and Right Whales (including Bowheads) are all longer (on average)– and if you want to count the toothed whales in the list, Sperm Whales are longer too.
Mahalo,
Captain Claire

Almost too many to count!

Aloha,
We had some great times the past few days watching the Humpbacks along the Kohala Coast! On Friday, both our 8:00 Breakfast with the Whales cruise out of Anaeho’omalu and our 10:00 Whale Watch out of Kawaihae reported seeing 5 different Humpbacks. Each boat reported seeing breaches (8:00 guests saw 4, and the 10:00 guests saw 2) but the guests aboard the 3:00 Whales and Cocktails trip reported an astounding 25 breaches from 2 whales about 200 yards from the boat. Even Captain Will, who has been running charters for more than 30 years was so excited he could barely describe the action! On Saturday, the 8:00 Breakfast with the Whales cruise reports seeing 14 Humpbacks, and the 10:00 Whale Watch reports seeing 11 Humpbacks. Both boats were approached by whales, and both boats report some pretty loud and clear singing. Sunday’s 8:00 Breakfast with the Whales trip reports seeing 25 different whales with 7 breaches, and on our 10:00 Whale Watch, guests saw only 13 Humpbacks, but they report seeing 28 tail lobs, 6 peduncle throws and 3 breaches. What a show! Of course we have to save the best for last…   the final trip of the weekend was the 3:00 Whales and Cocktails, where 27 different whales were seen, and guests counted 7 breaches, 15 tail slaps, 3 head lunges, 2 pec slaps and some “motor boating’ — that’s what we call it when the whales are travelling near the surface of the water with their massive heads angled up, creating an actual wake…it’s generally an aggressive behavior for the Humpbacks.
Join Ocean Sports on any of our daily Whale Watch trips for a guaranteed adventure – our morning Whale Watches even guarantee sightings — See Humpbacks, or ride again for free! 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 don’t have teeth — they have approximately 270 – 400 pairs of baleen plates hanging from the top palate of their mouths ranging in length from a foot to about 3 feet long. Where the baleen is attached to the palate, it feels like a horse’s hoof — but it fringes out to form dense mats allowing the whale to “strain the soup of the ocean” when feeding.
Mahalo,
Captain Claire

Humpback Breaches, Tail Lobs and Peduncle Throws

Aloha,
Guests aboard Thursday’s boats report good sightings, but the highlight of the day happened during the 10:00 Whale Watch cruise on Alala out of Kawaihae Harbor. Not only did guests see 7 different Humpbacks multiple times, but our naturalist for that trip, Jonathan, reports seeing 7 breaches, 3 tail lobs, and 2 peduncle throws! For those of you wondering, the difference between a tail lob and a peduncle throw is really one of degree. A “tail lob” describes the behavior of the whale slamming his or her 15 foot wide flukes against the surface of the ocean with a resounding splash. A “peduncle throw” describes the whale throwing the entire back half of his or her body out of the water and landing with an even bigger splash! When Captain Shane deployed the hydrophone on the 10:00 Whale Watch, guests heard singing — they said it wasn’t extremely loud, but it was described as being quite “clear”.
Join Ocean Sports for a Whale Watching Adventure on any of our  daily Whale Watch cruises, Black Sand Snorkel Sails of Sunset Sails. For more information, and to reserve your adventure, call 886-6666 ext 103 or visit www.hawaiioceansports.com.
Humpback Whale Fact of the Day: Just how difficult is it for a 40 ton, 45 foot long animal to “fly” from the sea in a total breach? Observers have reported seeing Humpbacks breach after only two kick strokes for propulsion. Based on the formula for calculating horsepower, measurements of laminar flow around cetacean skin (how water flows past the skin of the animal), girth and drag in the water, the breaching whale is producing between 1500 and 1700 horsepower in order to “catch air”. We used to think it was closer to 5000 horsepower, but with the aid of a calculator and more accurate measurements, we’ve been able to recalculate more accurately…still, try this yourself next time you’re in the water. We’re betting you won’t get very far!
Mahalo, and have a Great Weekend!
Captain Claire

Humpback Chatter

Aloha,
Guests aboard all our Whale Watch Cruises reported lots of whale activity all day on Wednesday. Because we operated a special schedule yesterday, I don’t have my regular trip report, but suffice it to say, from sunrise (well, actually from 8:00 am — we didn’t start that early) till sunset, we were privileged to share the ocean with the Humpbacks. Throughout the day, guests saw dozens of  Humpbacks multiple times. We witnessed the whole retinue of Humpback surface activity, including breaches, head lunges, peduncle throws, and tail lobs. When hydrophones were deployed on all boats, we could hear lots of singing and lots of “chatter”. Of course we also saw lots of those beautiful V-shaped Humpback spouts up and down the coast.
Join Ocean Sports on any of our daily Whale Watch Cruises, Snorkel Sails or Sunset Sails and see the action for yourself! Call us at 886-6666 ext. 103 or visit www.hawaiioceansports.com for details and reservations.
Humpback Whale Fact of the Day: Though we’ve mentioned before that only male Humpback Whales “sing”, all Humpbacks make noises and apparently use these sounds to communicate with each other. Researchers have witnessed cooperative feeding behaviors among the Humpbacks apparently “triggered” by sound, and have also witnessed Humpback Cows (moms) apparently ignoring some sounds made by their calves (researchers called these sounds “goo-goo, ga-ga” noises), but responding immediately when the calves made particular squealing noises. So it appears that Mom recognizes her baby’s voice!
Mahalo,
Captain Claire

Humpback Flukes, more dolphins, and muggings!

Aloha,
According to our naturalist, Nate, “the whales are here in full force!”, and Tuesday’s Whale Watches are proof! Guests aboard our 8:00 Breakfast with the Whales cruise started their morning with plenty of whale sightings — by the end of the trip, they had seen 8 whales multiple times, but spent most of their time watching a pod of 3 whales interacting with each other. The whales performed some tail lobs, and some head lunges, and lots of dives showing their flukes. Ryan, the naturalist aboard that trip said one of the Humpbacks had some very interesting “speckled” markings on the his or her tail. We’ll be looking for that whale again! At 10:00, guests saw 4 different Humpbacks, and a pod of Spinner Dolphins. When the captain deployed the hydrophone during the cruise, the singing was LOUD. And our 3:00 Whales & Cocktails trip began with a full breach about 60 yards from the boat. We were then accompanied for about 25 minutes by a competitive pod, who swam under the boat, “mugging” us several times. Guests saw 16 different whales during that trip and counted one whale performing 11 tail lobs a little ways in the distance.
Join Ocean Sports on any of our 3 daily Whale Watch Cruises and see the action for yourself. Call us at 886-6666 ext 103 or visit www.hawaiioceansports.com for reservations. And if you want to keep an eye on the sightings trends, visit our Whale Watch Blog at www.bigislandwhalewatch.com.
Humpback Whale Fact of the Day: One of the best ways whale watchers have to identify individual Humpbacks is by the unique markings on the ventral (underside) of their flukes (tails). Currently, the National Marine Mammal Laboratory based in Seattle maintains a data base containing more than 30,000 photos of the North Pacific Humpbacks flukes, but other researchers, including those involved in the 3 season SPLASH (Structure of Populations, Levels of Abundance and Status of Humpbacks) project have also used these patterns to identify who’s who in the whale world and estimate population levels.

Travelling Whales and Dolphins

Aloha,
The ocean conditions on Monday were great for watching whales, and guests aboard all three cruises had lots to report. Our 8:00 Breakfast with the Whales cruise aboard Seasmoke reports seeing 12 different whales, 4 breaches and 3 head lunges. Captain Nick, our naturalist aboard that trip noticed that all the whales they saw appeared to be going somewhere, travelling down the coast (But where would they be going? Hawaii is their winter destination after all!!). At 10:00, on Alala departing from Kawaihae, our whale watchers report seeing 3 Humpbacks and a pod of over 200 Nai’a (Spinner Dolphins). But the 3:00 Whales & Cocktails Trip aboard Seasmoke reports seeing the greatest number of whales….13! 6 of those whales were in swimming in a pod, apparently excited (or irritated) about something, because between those 6 whales, they performed 2 breaches, 3 peduncle throws, 2 pectoral slaps and 2 tail lobs!
Join Ocean Sports for a Whale Watch and see the action for yourself! We offer 3 trips daily just to see the whales! Call 886-6666 ext. 103 or visit hawaiioceansports.com to reserve your adventure today.
Humpback Whale Fact of the Day: We used to think that the whales that arrived on the coast of the Big Island spent their Hawaii-time here with us. Research and close observation of individuals has proved us wrong. While the Humpbacks seem to prefer to spend most of their time on the lee sides of islands and in water less than 600 feet deep, they will travel between the islands (not in any particular direction that we’re aware of)….females who have calves travel less frequently though.
Mahalo,
Captain Claire

Wild Weekend Whale Watching

Aloha,
We had a wild weekend of Whale Watching, starting with our Friday cruises, with our 8:00 Breakfast with the Whales reporting sightings of 10 different whales, multiple tail lobs, 2 pectoral slaps, a breach and some very loud singing. Nate, our naturalist aboard that trip reported that 6 of those whales were in 2 competitive pods of 3 chasing each other down the coast. At 10:00, Whale Watchers report seeing 5 different whales with 3 close encounters and 2 really close encounters (whales swimming under the boat), and our 3:00 Whales and Cocktails Cruise reports seeing 4 different whales multiple times. Saturday and Sunday brought more of the same — with the Whales & Cocktails cruise on Saturday reporting 5 whales, but the highlight of that cruise was watching a full breach about 400 yards from the boat! Sunday’s 8:00 Breakfast with the Whales cruise reports the most sightings — 15 different whales in all, and guests aboard that boat were “mugged” 3 different times (in this case, a “mugging” is a good thing, because we use the term to describe one of those really, really close encounters!). At 10:00, whale watchers saw 6 different whales and were treated to a close encounter and some very loud singing. Sunday’s 3:00 Whales & Cocktails cruise reports seeing 13 different whales multiple times…and to end the weekend with a bang (or a splash), FIVE BREACHES!
Join Ocean Sports on one of our 3 daily Whale Watch Cruises departing from 2 different locations within the Hawaii Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Waters. Call 886-6666 ext 103 or visit hawaiioceansports.com to reserve your adventure today.
Humpback Whale Fact of the Day: The Whales “mugging” us are definitely taking a look at us. Though hearing is the most important sense for the whale, based on the shape of the Humpbacks’ corneas, they can certainly see us…but, they’re probably a bit farsighted when looking through water, and a bit nearsighted when looking through the air. And in case anyone asks you, Humpbacks have beautiful brown eyes (with at least one notable exception…but I’ll tell you about that in a future email)!
Mahalo,
Captain Claire

Baby Whales, Breaches, Peduncle Throws and…Pilot Whales

Aloha,
Guests aboard Whale Watch Cruises yesterday had some very interesting encounters to report. First of all, guests on both our 10:00 Whale Watch on Alala out of Kawaihae Harbor, and our 3:00 Whales & Cocktails Cruise on Seasmoke out of Anaeho’omalu Bay reported seeing a whale calf! The afternoon trip reports 12 whales in total, but the Cow/Calf pod were spotted right near the bay as the boat was concluding the trip. The calf even breached! Guests on the 10:00 trip saw a total of 7 Humpbacks, 3 breaches, 2 pectoral slaps, and 4 peduncle throws (that’s what we call it when we see the whale throw the “back” half of his or her body out of the water). But even more interesting and exciting than all that, we also got to watch a pod of three Humpbacks (they appeared to be two big adults and a yearling) interacting with a pod of Pilot Whales! Since the water was so clear, we were actually able to watch these two species of whales swim over and under and all around each other! it was a great example of inter-species communication.
Join Ocean Sports for the adventure of your life! We offer 3 different cruises just to watch the whales, plus Snorkel Sails and Sunset Sails! Call us at 886-6666 ext. 103 or visit hawaiioceansports.com for details.
Humpback Whale Fact of the Day: A baby whale, called a “calf” looks so small and cute when seen playing with her Mom. But everything is relative…when the calf is born, she can already be 10 to as much as 15 feet long, and she weighs 2000 to 3000 pounds!
Mahalo, and have a great weekend,
Captain Claire

4 Whales and a Close Encounter

Aloha,
4 seems to be the magic number for our Wednesday Whale Watch cruises, with both cruises reporting sitings of 4 different whales. On the 10:00 Whale Watch on Alala from Kawaihae, guests saw 4 breaches on the horizon, but the highlight of that trip was definitely the close encounter! By law, we need to keep our boats at least 100 yards from any of the Humpbacks we see, but if one of them decides to come a little closer to check us out, it’s certainly ok with us!
Join Ocean Sports on an adventure to see the whales. We offer 3 different trips daily departing from two different locations within the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Waters. Call us at 886-6666 ext. 103, or visit hawaiioceansports.com for more information and reservations.
Humpback Whale Fact of the Day: Humpback Whales received protected status from the International Whaling Commission in 1966, banning most nations from hunting them. In the U.S., the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, and the Endangered Species Act of 1973 provide additional protection to the whales. In fact, unless operating under a federal research permit, approaching humpback whales within 100 yards (300 feet) or within 1,000 feet from aircraft is prohibited by federal regulations.
Mahalo,
Captain Claire