Aloha,

We began our Wednesday Whale Watching with some nice sightings on our 8:00 Breakfast with the Whales. Guests saw only one pod with two Humpbacks, but it was our favorite pod to see…Mom and her Baby. The pair was just travelling down the coast near Keawa’iki (south of Anaeho’omalu). They weren’t accompanied by an escort, and they didn’t display much activity on the surface. We know that the main activity for young calves is travelling (when they aren’t resting)…so we were happy to see the baby getting her morning exercise. We did deploy the hydrophone, but we weren’t able to pick up any singing. On our 10:00 Whale Watch, we didn’t see any Humpbacks. Again, the end of the season usually is more hit and miss for us in terms of finding the Humpbacks, but since our morning trips are GUARANTEED, guests are invited back with us on another whale watch for no charge, and getting to spend two mornings on the water for the price of one is a lot of fun! We didn’t run a Whales and Cocktails on Wednesday, so I can’t report what the whales were doing in the afternoon.

Don’t miss out on the spectacular 2011/2012 Humpback Whale Season in Hawaii. Call us at 886-6666 ext. 103 or visit www.hawaiioceansports.com to book your adventure today. And remember, Ocean Sports guarantees our morning Whale Watches — see whales, or ride again with us for FREE!

Humpback Whale Fact of the Day:  Starting out as a way to pass time between whale sightings and hunts on the whaling ships in the mid 18th century, “scrimshawing” (or the art of carving intricate designs on to whale teeth, bones and baleen) survived until the ban on commercial whaling went into effect. The etched designs were originally produced by sailors using sailing needles, and were colored with candle soot and tobacco juice to bring the designs into view. Today, hobbyists still create scrimshaw — but they use bones and tusks from non-endangered and non-protected animal species like camels, buffalo and even warthogs .

Mahalo,

Captain Claire