Tag Archives: head lunges

Right Place…Right Time

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Aloha and Mele Kalikimaka!

​We had a great morning of whale watching on Wednesday. On our Wake Up with the Whales Cruise on  Manu Iwa, Captain Will reports being “in the right place at the right time”. Throughout the cruise, guests saw 10 or 12 whales, but the best action was right next to the boat. We saw 4 full breaches about 100 yards from us, pec slaps, tail lobs and even a few head lunges. These adult Humpbacks were very active…and we even had 2 of them surface 120 yards from us and parallel us as we cruised along.

On the 10:00 Whale Watch from Kawaihae, we watched a very relaxed whale surface just 100 yards from us, spout, and then dive. We didn’t see his flukes, so we figured he’d be right back up. The surprise was on us though, because it wasn’t until 9 minutes later that he surfaced again — this time on the other side of the boat…spouted, and disappeared yet again without showing his flukes! We also saw some breaching further down the coast, and a couple of other spouts.
Mahalo,
Claire
Captain Claire’s Humpback Fact of the Day: Though they look inflexible, a Humpback’s flukes (the wide part of his tail) contain no bones…just cartilage. When the whale is born, the sides of his flukes are curled inwards so he can slide more easily out of mom’s birth canal.

Christmas Humpback

Almost too many to count!

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Aloha,
We had some great times the past few days watching the Humpbacks along the Kohala Coast! On Friday, both our 8:00 Breakfast with the Whales cruise out of Anaeho’omalu and our 10:00 Whale Watch out of Kawaihae reported seeing 5 different Humpbacks. Each boat reported seeing breaches (8:00 guests saw 4, and the 10:00 guests saw 2) but the guests aboard the 3:00 Whales and Cocktails trip reported an astounding 25 breaches from 2 whales about 200 yards from the boat. Even Captain Will, who has been running charters for more than 30 years was so excited he could barely describe the action! On Saturday, the 8:00 Breakfast with the Whales cruise reports seeing 14 Humpbacks, and the 10:00 Whale Watch reports seeing 11 Humpbacks. Both boats were approached by whales, and both boats report some pretty loud and clear singing. Sunday’s 8:00 Breakfast with the Whales trip reports seeing 25 different whales with 7 breaches, and on our 10:00 Whale Watch, guests saw only 13 Humpbacks, but they report seeing 28 tail lobs, 6 peduncle throws and 3 breaches. What a show! Of course we have to save the best for last…   the final trip of the weekend was the 3:00 Whales and Cocktails, where 27 different whales were seen, and guests counted 7 breaches, 15 tail slaps, 3 head lunges, 2 pec slaps and some “motor boating’ — that’s what we call it when the whales are travelling near the surface of the water with their massive heads angled up, creating an actual wake…it’s generally an aggressive behavior for the Humpbacks.
Join Ocean Sports on any of our daily Whale Watch trips for a guaranteed adventure – our morning Whale Watches even guarantee sightings — See Humpbacks, or ride again for free! Call us at 886-6666 ext. 103 or visit www.hawaiioceansports.com to reserve your spot today.
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.
Mahalo,
Captain Claire