Tag Archives: humpback size

A Surprise Close Encounter

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Aloha,
Wednesday’s Whale Watches started out with a bang! Guests aboard Seasmoke’s Breakfast with the Whales cruise were delighted to find a whale just a couple miles off shore of Anaeho’omalu Bay. We hung out with this whale for quite awhile, as s/he was surfacing pretty frequently. At one point, we were just idling quietly, watching and waiting for the whale to surface again. Everyone on the boat was scanning in different directions, and many of us had our theories about which direction the whale was next likely to pop up when we all got a HUGE surprise as the whale surfaced just 25 feet from the boat! Apparently this whale was as interested at getting a close look at us as we were at getting a look at him. On our 10:00 Whale Watch, we saw 8 different Humpbacks…including a competitive pod of 3. At one point, the lead whale of the pod (which is invariably a female) surfaced at the 9:00 position, and then swam under the boat and came up again at the 1:00 position so everyone on board, regardless of which side of the boat they were standing on, got a close encounter! We also saw Spinner Dolphins on this trip…most of them appeared to be resting, but we did see one end-on-end spin!
 
Join us and celebrate the end of 2012 with Hawaii’s Best Whale Watch Tours. Call us at (808)886-6666 ext. 103 or visit HawaiiOceanSports.com to reserve your adventure today.
 
Mahalo,
Claire
 
Captain Claire’s Humpback Whale Fact of the Day:Though the Humpbacks we typically see in Hawaii 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.

Lots of Spinners

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Aloha,
We only ran one Whale Watch on Tuesday — the 10:00 Whale Watch on Alala out of Kawaihae harbor. We didn’t see any Humpbacks, but we did see whales….we found a HUGE pod of Spinner Dolphins. According to our onboard naturalist, Jonathan, this pod probably numbered more than 200 animals. Spinner Dolphins are Odontocetes (toothed whales)…they feed out in the open ocean at night on “the deep scattering layer” — which is a vertical migration of squid and weird-looking fish like lantern fish. The Spinners spend most of their daylight hours in shallower waters, resting and playing. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, since we guarantee that you’ll see Humpbacks on our Whale Watches; not just “whales”, the guests who joined us this morning are invited to ride again with us for FREE.
There’s only a few days left for our 2011/2012 Humpback Whale Season. Call us at 886-6666 ext. 103 or visit www.hawaiioceansports.com to reserve your guaranteed Whale Watch today.
Humpback Whale 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.
Mahalo,
Captain Claire