Resting Pod

Aloha,
Summer has been really good for Dolphin watching so far — we’re kind of sorry it’s already the end of July. On today’s Dolphin Watch Adventure from Kawaihae, our guests were excited to see a pod of probably 200 Spinner dolphins! Captain Pat and his crew of Mike and Sean found the pod about a mile north of the harbor in just 50′ feet of water! According to our Dolphin Naturalist Mike, the pod was pretty spread out, and just swimming along quietly. We didn’t want to disturb them, so we motored parallel to them and let them come to us. We saw a few spins, and a few jumps…but mostly watched them as they rested in the early morning hours.
Join us on our next Dolphin Watch Adventure scheduled to depart from Kawaihae on Thursday 8/2 at 8:00 am! Please feel free to call us for more information and reservations. FYI, every Dolphin Watch Adventure includes continental breakfast, our Kau Kau snack buffet, soft drinks and open bar. Besides some great dolphin viewing, we also get to snorkel in a secluded cove off the coast!
Dolphin Fact of the Day: Spinner dolphins come to shallow water during the daylight hours to rest. Researchers have observed that the dolphins seem to prefer resting in areas with sandy bottoms (as opposed to reef), theorizing that it’s easier for the resting animals to detect the approach of their predators when they’re over areas with less environmental clutter.
Mahalo,
Captain Claire

Play or Learning – Dolphin Calves are very Active

Aloha,
Our Dolphin Watch Adventures have been very popular lately, both with our guest (thanks to you) and with the dolphins! During the last several cruises, the Spinners have approached us just North of the harbor at Crystal Cove. Typically, we’re seeing pods of around 50 (though it’s hard to count) and we’ve seen the full gamut of aerial behaviors as the dolphins accompany us down the coastline. We’re seeing dolphins of all ages too…and those cute little calves really capture our attention. We’re not sure if their end-over-end spins are intentional or just a result of uncoordinated enthusiasm!
We still have space available on Thursday’s Dolphin Watch Adventure departing from Kawaihae Harbor at 8:00 am, and on Saturday’s cruise departing from Kaun’oa Bay fronting the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. Feel free to give us a call at 886-6666 ext. 103 for more information and reservations.
Dolphin Fact of the Day: Spinner Dolphins (actually all dolphins) have two voices–.the more sonic voice (the one we can hear from the boat as the dolphins travel near us ) consists of a vocabulary of clicks and whistles, jaw snaps, flipper snaps and splashes. The inaudible (to us) voice is echolocation. Dolphins can “hear” the echoes  from their clicks bouncing off objects in the distance. Research shows that they are able to use this information to determine the location of an object, its size, its shape and even whether it’s a living object.
Mahalo,
Captain Claire

Dolphins at Red Hill

Aloha,
Yesterday’s Dolphin Watch Adventure departed from Kawaihae at 8:00 am and in less than 30 minutes, guests aboard the boat were delighted when a huge (probably close to a hundred) pod of dolphins approached our boat while we were cruising the coast near the area we call “Red Hill”. We know there are a lot of “Red Hills” around the islands, and this one is on the Kohala Coast just  south west of Kohala Ranch. Interestingly, during the Humpback Whale season, we seem to encounter whales off this landmark so frequently that it makes us wonder what makes the landmark attractive to our cetacean friends. We know there’s no predictable current right there, and we’ve been scuba diving right along the shoreline there and haven’t seen any underwater topographical distinctions…but whatever it is, the whales, and yesterday, the dolphins frequent the area often.
Yesterday’s aerial action was pretty interesting with countless arcuate leaps, spins and even lots of back flips. The dolphins seemed to enjoy taking turns riding the bow wake, and we enjoyed listening to them spouting and whistling.
Join us on our next Dolphin Watch Adventure, departing at 8:00 am from Kawaihae tomorrow!
Dolphin Fact of the Day: The gestation period for Spinners is around 11 months, and the dolphin calf can nurse from its mother for as long as 2 years, though often after the first year the calf is weaned.
Mahalo,
Captain Claire