Monthly Archives: March 2014

Double Breach, Close Encounters and a Symphony

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Aloha,
We ran all kinds of Whale Watches on Thursday. On our 9:00 Kid’s Field Trip Cruise (yes – we run educational cruises just for our local school kids – and when I think of the boring field trips I used to attend, I have to admit I’m kind of envious) — the kids got to see about 15 different whales, including a couple of competitive pods. The kids also saw several Humpback Mom/Baby pods, and a couple of breaches from some adult Humpbacks. On the 11:00 Kid’s Field Trip Cruise, the kids saw a breach just 100 yards from the boat. They also saw a Mom/Baby/Escort pod – and the escort did some pec slaps. The water was so clear on Thursday, that you could see the outlines of the whales’ bodies as they swam just below the surface. On our Breakfast with the Whales Cruise, we watched Mom/Baby/Escort swim right underneath our bow, and then saw the dissolution of a small competitive pod. And we began our 10:00 Cruise with a double breach. We also got to hear some of the loudest singing we’ve heard this season when we deployed our hydrophone.
Just a personal note…I will be offline all next week, so Kay, our Director of Sales and Marketing, will be sending you the Humpback Updates from her email address! Have a wonderful week, and I’ll be back again for the report on March 17th.
Mahalo,
Claire
Captain Claire’s Humpback Fact of the Day:Those lines we see under the Humpback’s mouth are actually pleats that allow for the expansion of her mouth when she feeds. This expansion, combined with her ability to flex her jaws, allows her to hold up to 15,000 gallons of sea water in her mouth at one time — that’s the equivalent of 160,000 cans of Diet Pepsi (or Budweiser) in every gulp — of course, she doesn’t swallow the water she gulps…just the unlucky fish that had been swimming in it.

Moms and Babies

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Aloha,
Guests aboard our Wednesday Breakfast with the Whales Cruise spent considerable time with a pod of Mom and her baby. They both were pretty active on the surface, so we got to see lots of spouting, dorsal fins, flukes, and a lot of twisting and diving from the little calf. We know the calf nurses often (probably every hour), so we often wonder when he’s diving down, if that’s what’s going on. On the Snorkel Cruise, we got some to see some Humpback action too, as we paralleled a competitive pod for awhile. We’re always amazed at the turbulence a pod of whales can create as they charge across the surface, and this pod was definitely charging. And we finished the day with another Mom/Baby pod on our Whales and Cocktails Cruise. These whales were resting quietly on the surface, just spouting and swimming slowly. When we dropped the hydrophone we heard lots of loud, clear singers.
Mahalo,
Claire
Captain Claire’s Humpback 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 have observed that most Humpbacks in the North Pacific don’t begin calving successfully till they’re at least 10 years old – the mean average is 11.8 years. Humpbacks in the North Atlantic give birth for the first time between ages 5 and 7.

Dolphins surround a Whale

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Aloha,
Monday’s wintery weather caused us to cancel all our cruises except for Breakfast with the Whales. The 16 guests who braved the conditions with us were rewarded though, as we started the cruise with a pod of about 100 Spinner Dolphins — many of whom decided it would be fun to surf our bow wake. As we were watching all this activity, a Humpback surfaced right in the middle of the pod. Then we saw some breaching a way’s off, so Captain Baker decided to head out that way. We were surprised when 3 whales surfaced at our stern and made a dive right below us (we could see them as they cruised right under us). And we finished the cruise with even more breaching.
Mahalo,
Claire
Captain Claire’s Humpback 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!

New Born Humpback Calf

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Aloha, Our weekend of Whale Watching started out with a bang! On Friday’s 10:00 Cruise, guests got to watch not 1…not 2… but 3 competitive pods of 5 whales each all at the same time! There was way more head lunging, peduncle throwing, pec slapping and breaching going on than we could keep track of…and we pretty much all lost our voices shouting out encouragement to all these whales in their battles for dominance. On the 12:30 Cruise, the waters quieted down. We watched several whales all in one small area just spouting…and then…all of a sudden, we saw the smallest calf we had ever seen. This little guy’s dorsal fin was completely bent over (indicating a VERY recent birth). Mom had the little whale resting on her rostrum and was gently pushing him around on the surface heading towards shore. As Captain Will put it, “Absolutely Incredible”! On the Whales and Cocktails Cruise, we were watching a couple of adult whales but were all surprised when a calf popped up right off the bow of the boat. We could see mom under the water, but she never did surface near us. On Saturday’s Breakfast with the Whales Cruise, we saw 15 different whales including 3 Mom/Baby pods. One of the little calves was very energetic, breaching 3 times, pec slapping and tail lobbing. When we deployed the hydrophone, we did hear multiple voices, but none of the singers were very close. And on the 10:00 Cruise we watched Mom and Baby breaching (was she teaching him how or were they both communicating something important?). We also got to watch a small competitive pod doing pec slaps and tail lobs. By Sunday, the weather moved in so we only got to run the morning cruises – but at 10:00 am we were the object of curiosity for Mom and her Baby Humpback. They surfaced and dove next to us for 45 minutes…we even got spouted upon. We also saw some breaches in the distance, but we did get lucky when a different whale breached just a couple hundred yards from us. Mahalo, Claire

Captain Claire’s Humpback Fact of the Day: According to research conducted in Japan, the peak estrus period for Humpbacks (i.e. when females are in heat) overall, is between the end of January and the end of February, but the peak estrus period for females with a calf appears to be several weeks later. Our frequent observations of pods of Mom and Baby who are accompanied by an escort at this time of year seem to support the validity of these findings. Although, since many mature females without calves have left Hawaii already, perhaps it’s not the fact that the females with calves are in estrus that’s attracting the escorts, but just that these males are accompanying any female they can find.