Tag Archives: breach

Spy Hops!

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whalewatchoceansports1-1-14 - Diane Zander

Aloha,
We had a great day on the water on Thursday. With five different cruises just for Whale Watching, plus a couple of Snorkel Cruises thrown in, there’s way too much to report for one email, so I’ll just give you a few highlights. Though the surf was up today, the wind was very, very calm, allowing us to see for miles. There were lots of Humpbacks visible all day long — on our Wake up With the Whales Cruises (we took both Seasmoke and Manu Iwa out), we all saw a few breaches and lots of great fluke dives. On our Kid’s Educational Whale Watch Cruise, the kids (and parents and teachers from Wai’aha International Family School) got to see 3 spy hops about 100 yards from the boat. We also saw a pretty big peduncle throw. On our Whales and Cocktails Cruise we had several close encounters with adult Humpbacks, and when we stopped the boat we could actually hear the whales singing through the hulls. After we were serenaded for several minutes, we decided to deploy the hydrophone and our close-by singer was certainly the star of the show. He was making some groaning, clicking, and squealing sounds that were new to us (along with the “whooop, whoop, whoooooop” sounds we were familiar with from last year. The best part was when the singing stopped briefly. We knew he was on the way up, and he surfaced just 50 yards from us!
Mahalo and have a great weekend. I’ll send out a recap on Monday.
Claire
 

Captain Claire’s Humpback Fact of the Day: Yesterday, I mentioned that researchers estimated a Humpback’s daily fish consumption during the summer season to be on the order of 2000 pounds per day. And if you do a quick Google search you’ll find that “fact” cited all over the place. Turns out that this may be just another example of how inaccurate information gets spread. Once a “fact” is listed in a book, it’s picked up on the internet and its spread can be exponential.

According to researcher Briana H. Witteveen and her colleagues who conducted a study to determine the effect of Humpback predation on fish abundance near Kodiak Alaska, based on the documented stomach contents of Humpbacks “processed” through whaling stations back in 1937, combined with estimates of actual suitable prey availability, an average size Humpback whale is eating more on the order of 800 pounds (or about 576,000 calories) of food each day.Does that seem like a lot of food to you?

 

Playful Calves

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Aloha,

Tuesday morning was a great time to be on the water on the Kohala Coast! We took out two boats for our Wake Up with the Whales Cruise from Anaeho’omalu Bay, and though we went different directions, guests on both cruises got to see a wide variety of surface behaviors from Humpbacks of all ages. On the Manu Iwa, we saw 25 different Humpbacks, including one Cow/Calf/Escort pod with a very active little calf. This guy did several tail lobs (which are really cute when you see a calf do them). We also got to see some whales that appeared to be as long as our boat (50′) — including one who surfaced about 25 yards from our idling boat, and then came up to get an even closer look. On Seasmoke, we also saw more than 20 different Humpbacks within 3/4 of a mile. We spent a considerable amount of time at idle, watching a Mom/Baby/Escort. We knew baby was pretty young because he still had a bent over dorsal fin. Mom looked to be pretty young herself (she was only about 35 feet long). Our second Mom/Baby/Escort pod came across us a little later in the cruise. Baby breached 5 times very close by (he kept trying to get closer), and we all got a great view of his ventral pleats (the “lines” we see on his belly). We also had several close encounters with solo whales who surfaced very close by at different times throughout the cruise.
Mahalo,
Claire
Captain Claire’s Humpback 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!

elisa thompson

Oh Baby!

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Aloha,

On Tuesday’s Wake up With the Whales on Seasmoke, we got to see three different Mom/Calf/Escort pods. We also saw a lot of surface activity from other adult humpbacks in the area including 6 or 7 full breaches (one was just 50 yards from the boat — sure surprised all of us)! We also saw some peduncle throws and a few pec slaps from other whales. And on our Whales and Cocktails Cruise we also got to see some calves. We actually saw two different Mom/Calf/Escort pods. Baby was pretty active in that second pod — up on the surface a lot, and even breaching. In between watching those two pods, we got surrounded by a competitive pod. These whales were really acting aggressively towards each other. We saw lots of lunges, peduncle throws and tail lobs — even a few pec slaps.
Mahalo,
Claire
Captain Claire’s Humpback Fact of the Day: Researchers have observed that female Humpbacks with calves are accompanied by a male escort about 83% of the time during the winter season in Hawaii. Since nursing moms rarely get pregnant, we’re not sure why these males are hanging around…one theory is that the escort is trying to make a good impression on the female so that when she is receptive, she’ll consider the possibility of mating with him. Other researchers theorize that she puts up with the company of one male, hoping that he’ll scare off other amorous suitors (maybe dealing with one male at a time is better than having to deal with 2, 3, 4 or more).

Intense Sightings All Weekend

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Aloha,

The whales were everywhere this weekend, and we ran a lot of different cruises, so I’ll just recap highlights from a few of them. On Friday’s10:00 Whale Watch, Captain Baker reports seeing a couple of pods of 3 whales harassing each other for the duration of the cruise which provided lots of surface action to watch. Guests also saw one whale do a complete breach just 120 yards from the boat. This guy was totally out of the water, and everyone got to see it (which is kind of unusual; it’s much more common that most of us are looking a different direction until we hear the shouts from the lucky people who see the whale’s rostrum exit the water)! And on the Whales and Cocktails Cruise we saw lots of spouting and lots of fluking. We also got to see 2 lazy breaches from a whale about 200 yards away from us. He only got half his body out of the water, but he did land on his back both times.
On Saturday’s 10:00 cruise from Kawaihae, we started out with a single whale who breached 4 times in a row, and then did 7 peduncle throws — which certainly got our attention. But after that expenditure of energy, he just swam down the coast spouting and diving. Then we found a pod of Mom/Baby/Escort offshore of the Mauna Kea Resort. We watched the interaction between the 3 of them for the rest of our cruise.
On Sunday’s Wake up With the Whales, we hardly got a break from the action the whole trip. Not only did we see every surface activity in the book, but we had a whale breach not more than 100 feet from us, and at one point two whales surfaced just in front of our idling boat while one whale was tail lobbing right at our stern. On the 10:00 Cruise from Kawaihae, the whales were eerily quiet — until the last 30 minutes when a sub-adult started doing peduncle throw after peduncle throw. Some of us counted 15 — some of us counted 17. By our 3:00 departure for the Whale & Cocktails Cruise, it had gotten kind of windy,and the Humpbacks were reflecting that energy. We watched at least 6 pods of two whales, plus a few competitive pods — and according to Captain Mark, saw lots of tail lobs, peduncle throws, head lunges and breaches from these pods.
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. In the North Atlantic, Humpbacks generally give birth for the first time between ages 5 and 7.Baby Breaches

Everything you can Imagine a Humpback Doing

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Aloha,

Guests aboard Thursday’s Whales and Cocktails Cruise got to see basically everything you could imagine a Humpback doing in Hawaii. We saw multiple breaches — so many we lost count — (including one from a calf), pec slaps, head lunges, peduncle throws, and tail lobs. And to top it off, a lot of this activity was just 20 yards or so from our idling boat! There was so much activity going on that we never had to travel more than about a mile from the bay – we spent the whole cruise between Anaeho’omalu and the Hilton. Oh, and when we dropped the hyrdophone into the water, we heard quite a bit too. A lot of the chorus seemed to be pretty far away, but there were a couple of very loud, clear voices (indicating the presence of some submerged singers very close by).
Mahalo and have a great weekend. I’ll check in again with a recap on Monday.
Claire
Captain Claire’s Humpback 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…and even though a lot less power is required than we thought, try this yourself next time you’re in the water. We’re betting you won’t get very far!

Baby Breaches Too

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Aloha,

On Wednesday’s Wake up With the Whales, we got to see a competitive pod of 5 whales charging around on the surface. We saw a few head lunges from this pod and heard lots of heavy breathing. We also saw some breaches from different Humpbacks a bit further out. On our 10:00 Cruise from Kawaihae we got to see two different cow/calf pods. We haven’t seen very many calves yet this year, so these whales were a welcome site. And what was even more welcome was when baby did a full breach right next to our idling boat…followed by a full breach from Mom! You should have heard the yells of excitement coming from the boat…incredible. We also got a chance to deploy the hyrdophone and were able to hear lots of singing, but one whale’s voice really stood out – this guy must have been really close by. And finally, on our Whales and Cocktails Cruise, we had to have seen more than 20 different whales, and boy were they active. We watched whales breaching in all directions, and some of them were just 200 yards from the boat. We also saw some pec slapping…but it was the breaches that had us yelling for more! A lot of these whales were really big adults, but we did see a Mom/Baby pod, and even baby got in on all the excitement doing a breach of his own.
Mahalo,
Claire
Captain Claire’s Humpback Fact of the Day: The gestation period for a Humpback whale is about 11 months, which means the calves we’re seeing this year were conceived last winter. We can only estimate the gestation period because oddly, researchers have never observed the same female mating and then giving birth (in fact, there has never been documented observation of any humpback copulation or calving at all)!

Humpbacks Singing LIVE

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Aloha,

Our week started out really fun. On Monday’s Wake Up with the Whales, we must have seen spouts from at least 2 dozen different whales — maybe more. We saw two different competitive pods of 4 whales each charging around on the surface about a mile from us…and even had one competitive pod duck under the boat. But the highlight of the day was the Humpback who decided to spend 15 minutes underneath us blowing bubbles. We know that a Humpback in  a competitive pod will often blow streams of bubbles through his blowholes and mouth, most likely to disrupt the vision of the whales chasing behind him. And researchers have even seen bubbles coming out of – to put it delicately – the other end of the whale. Our bubble blower wasn’t surrounded by other whales at the time, so we’re not quite sure what he was doing underneath us, but it sure was amazing to see! And on the Whales and Cocktails Cruise, besides seeing a lot of activity, we heard a lot too…listen to this…
Mahalo,
Claire
Captain Claire’s Whale Fact of the Day: Ok…so I know this fact isn’t about Humpbacks, but it is oddly interesting to me. Researchers have observed schools of herring, while being pursued by orcas (killer whales), generating extensive gas bubble releases from their anuses (flatulence). Due to the density difference of these bubbles compared to the surrounding sea water, these researchers theorize that the herring gas creates a barrier disrupting the echolocation abilities of the orca,allowing the herring to escape predation. Something to consider if you ever find yourself being chased around the ocean by an orca…

Mugged Again by the Usual Suspect

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Aloha,

The weather was absolutely beautiful for our Friday Wake-Up With the Whales. We saw breaching to the north of us as we left the bay so we headed that way, and it really paid off. Not only did we see more breaching, but we also saw a lot of pec slapping from one whale, while two others swung by about 100 yards away. But the best part of the cruise had to have been the whale who decided to look at us from right beneath the boat…for 10 minutes! On Friday’s 10:00 Cruise we found a Mom/Baby/Escort pod right off the Mauna Kea Resort. This pod stayed with us for over an hour, and we got to see baby breach 5 times. Over the course of the cruise we saw 15 different Humpbacks, and lots of pec slapping too. We also found a pod of Mom/Baby/Escort on Friday’s Whales and Cocktails, and we got to see another adult whale breach about 150 yards from us.
On Saturday’s 10:00 Whale Watch, all of us aboard Manu iwa were looking in the right direction for 2 breaches from 2 different whales – both were about 100 yards from us, and both whales got completely airborne! And the theme of Saturday’s Whales and Cocktails Cruise was “Breach”! There was lots of breaching going on in the distance all around us…and we got to see two breaches within about 150 yards of us. Lots of other surface action was going on too…peduncle throws, tail lobs, and even a few pec slaps.
Sunday was pretty great too, with lots of breaching and surface activity throughout the day. We even got to see a couple of competitive pods.
Mahalo,
Claire
Captain Claire’s Humpback Fact of the Day: Though the Humpbacks we see average between 40 and perhaps 50 feet long, there is anecdotal evidence that the largest Humpback killed by whalers was 88 feet long. This Humpback was taken in the Caribbean.

Muggings and Spy Hops

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Aloha,

We had a Kona storm roll in to the island on Friday, so we had to cancel a bunch of our cruises…but we did get to go out a couple of times, and we got to see some pretty fun stuff. On our Friday Wake-up With the Whales, guests on Manu Iwa spent the first hour or so watching 10 different whales in pods of two just spouting and diving. We did get a few great fluke shots. But towards the end of the cruise, we were “mugged” by a sub-adult! This guy came right up to the boat, spy-hopped on the starboard side and looked at all of us. We were going crazy! Then he slid below the surface, swam underneath us and spy-hopped on the port side looking at all of us again! On Friday’s 10:00 Whale Watch on Alala we saw spouts from 14 different Humpbacks. Most were in pods of two, but we did see a few solo whales. Everyone seemed to be very relaxed, just surfacing, taking 3 or 4 breaths and diving. Most of the whales were on 15-17 minute dive cycles.
By Sunday, the ocean had calmed down a little, but it was still sort of bumpy out there. On our 8:00 Wake-up with the Whales, we saw 6 different Humpbacks, mostly just breathing and diving. Same thing on our 10:00 Whale Watch — we saw 10-12 different whales and they were all just spouting and diving.But on our mid-day private Whale Watch we got to see some breaching about 75 yards from the boat.
Mahalo,
Claire
Captain Claire’s Humpback Fact of the Day: Spy hopping is one of the ways a Humpback can see what’s going on above the surface of the water. Because Humpbacks have really big heads proportionally, their eyes are about a third of the way down their bodies. When the whale spy hops, she rises slowly and vertically from the water, head first. If she’s a fully grown whale, the tip of her rostrum may be 15 feet above the surface before her eyes get there!Humpback Mugs Boat

Best Whale Show This Year!

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Aloha,

January 1st brought us the best whale shows we’ve had all year (ha ha ha)! Seriously though, on our 8:00 Whale Watch, Captain Ryan reports that despite the bumpy ocean conditions guests saw a LOT of activity — everything from multiple pec slaps, to multiple peduncle throws, to close encounters. Breaches could be seen in the distance too. On the 10:00 Whale Watch, we also had a close encounter. We got to see two Humpbacks just kind of milling about and saw some peduncle throws a couple of miles from us. And on the Whales & Cocktails Cruise, we saw 14 different whales. Most of them were a couple of miles away, but we did get to watch 3 Humpbacks close to shore chasing each other around, and we also saw 3 very clear (but kind of far away) breaches.
Mahalo and have a great weekend. I’ll check back in again on Monday.
Claire
Captain Claire’s Humpback Fact of the Day: Why would a whale waste the energy to throw the back half of his or her body out of the water in a peduncle throw (sometimes repetitively)?? Since the whales won’t tell us, all we can do is try to interpret their behavior in terms of what else is going on in their lives at that moment. We know that Humpbacks very rarely eat while they’re in Hawaii, and since a peduncle throw is a huge expenditure of energy — if you don’t believe me, try it yourself the next time you’re in the ocean — it’s got to be important to the whale. Throwing half of yourself out of the water results in a huge splash and might be a way to communicate location, health, excitement, or even aggression and irritation to nearby whales. Especially if the nearby whale happens to be so nearby that he gets landed upon!