Baleen…what it really is…and lots of Close Encounters

Aloha,
Our weekend of whale watching was wonderful (sorry for the alliteration). Highlights included Friday’s Breakfast with the Whales, where we saw 7 whales and one breach in the distance. We also found a huge pod of Spinner Dolphins travelling south towards Keawaiki. That evening, guests aboard our Champagne Sunset Sail were delighted to see two Humpbacks just as the sun was setting…and they even breached for us. On Saturday’s Breakfast with the Whales, we saw 4 whales…two of them appeared to be juveniles (based on their sizes), and like kids of every species, they were pretty curious about their surroundings. Luckily for us, they approached us twice! On our 10:00 Whale Watch from Kawaihae we saw 5 Humpbacks and lots of Spinner Dolphins. On Sunday’s Breakfast with the Whales, Ryan, our on board naturalist reports 2 whales just south of Anaeho’omalu, chasing each other around. At one point they swam right under the boat and then stayed near us for about 15 minutes. They swam away…but turned back and gave us another close encounter. Guests had a similar experience on our 10:00 Whale Watch when 3 whales swam right under our boat. They were close enough to the surface that we could see their outlines perfectly. We ended the weekend with 4 whales on our Whales and Cocktails Cruise. These 4 did swim by closely enough that we could see the barnacles on their flukes!
 
Join Ocean Sports on any of our 3 daily Whale Watch Cruises. Call (808)886-6666 ext. 103 or visit HawaiiOceanSports.com to reserve your adventure today.
 
Aloha,
Claire
 
Captain Claire’s 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.

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