Tag Archives: head lunge

Windy Weather doesn’t stop the Sightings

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Aloha,
We sure had some wild winds this past weekend…which means we didn’t run all our Whale Watch cruises. But when we were running, we saw some great activity. On Friday, guests aboard our 10:00 Whale Watch from Kawaihae saw 11 Humpbacks. We  watched a very energetic calf breach 10 times. We also saw 8 tail lobs, 4 body lunges, 2 head lunges, 3 pec slaps and heard some great vocalizations when we deployed our hydrophone. Oh, and we did see a pod of Spinner Dolphins when we first left the harbor. On Saturday, the winds starting coming up early, but guests aboard our 8:00 Whale Watch saw 6 Humpbacks pretty far from the coastline. We did see splashes (but we weren’t close enough to determine how the whales were making them). On our Whales and Cocktails cruise, we saw 7 Humpbacks, and had 3 close encounters. We all got very excited when a whale decided to breach 105 yards from our boat. We also saw a couple of pec slaps and some tail raises. And we ran a special trip on Saturday afternoon for the Rotary Club out of Kawaihae. The Rotarians saw 3 whales — a Mom and her calf, and later a lone whale. But when we deployed the hydrophone, we heard quite a bit of vocalization…which means the whales are still close by. And on Sunday, guests aboard our 8:00 Breakfast with the Whales cruise battled the windy conditions but saw 4 Humpbacks and  2 full breaches about 100 yards from the boat. On our 3:00 Whales and Cocktails cruise, guests saw 8 Humpbacks and 7 peduncle throws.
Join Ocean Sports for a Whale Watching Adventure. Call us at 886-6666 ext. 103 or visit www.hawaiioceansports.com to reserve your spot today.

Humpback Whale Fact of the Day: Researchers note that female Humpbacks in the North Pacific population are seen with their first calf when they’re between 8 and 16 years old (the mean age is 11.8). In the North Atlantic, female Humpbacks give birth for the first time when they’re between 5 and 7 years old.

Mahalo,
Captain Claire

Spectacular breaches and Vibrant Songs

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Aloha,

Our Wednesday Whale Watches were Wonderful! We didn’t run our regular schedule, but guests aboard our 10:00 Whale Watch were treated to sightings of 20 whales, 15 of whom they saw in the first half hour of the charter. They saw 8 “spectacular” breaches about 250 yards from the boat, 2 spy hops, 6 tail lobs, head and body lunges, 4 Cow/Calf/Escort pods, had 5 close encounters, and 3 muggings. When the hydrophone was deployed our naturalist Jonathan reports the singing was loud, clear and vibrant. And on our morning Black Sand Picnic Snorkel Sail, guests report seeing “at least 20 whales” including a couple of calves with their Moms. As one guest put it, “how could there be anything cuter than a baby whale?”. They also saw breaches, lunges and lots of tails and spouting.

Join Ocean Sports for a whale watch you’ll never forget! Call us at 886-6666 ext. 103 or visit www.hawaiioceansports.com to reserve your adventure today.

Humpback Whale Fact of the Day: Humpbacks can maintain a consistant body temperature even when swimming in cold Alaskan waters. How do they do that? Besides their protective layer of blubber, they actually have something called a “counter current” circulatory system. Some arteries in their flippers, flukes, and dorsal fin are surrounded by veins, allowing some heat from the blood traveling through the arteries to be transferred to the venous blood returning to their hearts, instead of being lost to the environment. Tomorrow, I’ll explain how Humpbacks keep their cool in Hawaiian waters!

Mahalo,

Captain Claire

Lots of competition and a dinner of whale meat?!

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Aloha,
Wednesday’s Whale Watches began with a “Great Show” according to Captain Jeff Baker. Guests aboard our 8:00 Breakfast with the Whales cruise saw 20 whales and encountered a very active competitive pod of 6 whales. As usual, when we get to see a competitive pod, there’s lots of splashing, shoving, and jockeying for position among the whales as the males try to get close to the female. And since the whales are swimming hard, they’re on the surface breathing a lot too (just like when you run fast, your breathing rate increases). We even got to hear the “trumpeting” sound the whales make when they exhale forcefully, trying to catch their breath. On our 10:00 Whale Watch, we saw 12  different whales, 3 breaches and 3 tail lobs and then encountered a competitive pod in which we saw 4 body lunges, 5 head lunges and 2 pectoral slaps — exciting stuff. We also saw a couple of Cow/calf pods and heard some great sounds when we deployed our hydrophone.
Join Ocean Sports for an adventure on a Whale Watch you’ll never forget! Call us at 886-6666 ext. 103 or visit www.hawaiioceansports.com for reservations and information.
Humpback Whale Fact of the Day: In 1918, in effort to stockpile more beef, mutton and pork to send to the American troops fighting the 1st World War, the US government sponsored a luncheon at the American Museum of National History in New York featuring Humpback Whale meat. Several dignitaries were invited (including Admiral Peary) to feast on the menu created by the Head Chef of Delmonico’s, and were quoted saying the meat tasted like pot roast or venison. During the luncheon, the museum’s “reliable sources” reported that if all of the 7 operational whaling stations on the Pacific Coast began processing whale for food (instead of for fertilizer), more than 20 million pounds of whale meat could be distributed to the American public during the summer months alone at a cost of 12.5 cents/pound. The idea never really caught on with the American public though.
Mahalo,
Captain Claire

Lots of Humpbacks and Lots of Surface Activity

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Aloha,
We all had a lot of fun on Thursday’s Whale Watches. On the 8:00 Breakfast with the Whales trip on Seasmoke, we saw 35 Humpbacks, 2 competitive pods, 12 breaches from a sub-adult whale, pec slaps, head lunges, tail lobs and peduncle throws. Our hydrophone allowed us to listen in to some very close-by and very loud songs. On our 10:00 Whale Watch, guests saw 18 whales, 6 breaches, 6 spy hops, 3 body lunges, 4 head lunges and 4 Cow/Calf pairs, one of whom was accompanied by an escort. On our 3:00 Whales and Cocktails cruise we saw 16 whales, 4 breaches, 7 tail lobs, 2 pec slaps and we also got to hear some really loud songs.
Join the friendly crew of Ocean Sports for a whale watch you’ll never forget. Call us at 886-6666 ext. 103, or visit www.hawaiioceansports.com to reserve your adventure today.
Humpback Whale Fact of the Day: Being mammals, Humpback Moms feed their calves milk. But Humpback milk isn’t just any old milk — it’s extremely rich with a fat content of approximately 50%! Human milk is only about  4.5% fat.
Mahalo and have a wonderful weekend!
Captain Claire

Surprised by a Curious Humpback

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Aloha,
All 3 Whale Watch Cruises on Wednesday reported seeing a lot of whales and a lot of surface activity! On our 8:00 Breakfast with the Whales cruise, guests saw 14 different whales, but the favorite sighting was of a Mom/Baby who came over to the boat to investigate. The also saw a head lunge and a breach from different whales. Our 10:00 Whale Watch reports seeing 17 different Humpbacks. The count was confirmed by our Junior Whale Naturalist, Sloan, who helped us keep track of what we were seeing (Mahalo, Sloan — we hope you consider a career in Marine Sciences — we think you’d be very good at it). Guests at 10:00 also report seeing 4 breaches, 3 tail lobs, and 2 peduncle throws. On the 3:00 Whales & Cocktails, guests were gazing off to the starboard side of the boat to look for whales when EVERYONE was surprised by a whale who spouted right off the port side. The whale then dove under the boat, hovered there, apparently looking at all of us looking at him (or her) before surfacing right next to us on the starboard side. Another dive, another hover right beneath us, and another surface on the port side seemed to satisfy that whale’s curiosity, because s/he then swam away. Later in the trip, guests had another close encounter with 2 whales who spouted about 100 feet away and then swam right along side the boat! Our naturalist aboard that trip reports a total of 15 whales sighted, 1 head lunge and one breach.
Join Ocean Sports on any of our 3 daily Whale Watch Cruises departing from 2 different locations within the Hawaii Islands National Marine Sanctuary Waters. Call us at 886-6666 ext. 103 or visit www.hawaiioceansports.com and reserve your adventure today.
Humpback Whale Fact of the Day: When a Humpback spouts, he’s exhaling in a half of a second, 90% of the volume of air in his lungs. It’s enough air in one blow to fill up the interior of a stretch limousine. In case you’re curious, when an average size adult exhales, he takes 3 times as long to exhale just 15% of the volume of air in his lungs — and an adult exhalation wouldn’t even fill up a Smart Car — it’s only enough air to fill up a lunch bag.
Mahalo,
Captain Claire