Tag Archives: IUCN

Surprised by a Breach

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Aloha,

Even after 3 decades of running Whale Watch Cruises, we still find ourselves surprised and astounded by the varieties of behaviors we see from the Humpbacks along our coastline. Case in point: on Wednesday’s Signature 10:00 Whale Watch, we were paralleling a competitive pod of 6 or 7 whales. Most of the time, this group was underwater doing whatever it is the Humpbacks do to compete under there. We watched them surface several times and got to see a few tail lobs, and some bubble blowing, and we got to hear and see some powerful spouts. This went on for quite a while, when seemingly without any prompting, a very large Humpback breached fully out of the water between 50 and 100 yards from our boat. Those of us who were looking in the correct direction shouted when we saw the whale’s rostrum coming up…and that allowed a bunch of the rest of us to witness most of the breach. We couldn’t decide if it looked like it was happening in slow motion (or maybe it was due merely to the whale’s size), but from start to finish, that breach seemed to last a very long time. And that’s why we love Whale Watching…you just never know what you’ll see!
Mahalo,
Claire
Captain Claire’s Humpback Fact of the Day: In August 2008, the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) changed the status of the Humpback Whale from “Vulnerable” to “Least Concern” reflecting the general upward trend of population levels. According to IUCN standards, animal populations in the “Least Concern” category are at a low risk for extinction. The IUCN classifies the status of humans in the same category.

Baby Whales Entertain Themselves

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Aloha,
There was a lot going on this past weekend with the whales. On Friday’s Breakfast with the Whales, guests saw at least a dozen different Humpbacks, including a few who decided to surface right next to us. On our 10:00 Whale Watch, we got to watch our favorite pod – Mom/Baby/Escort. The baby was really small, but really active – trying, in his uncoordinated way, to breach a few times just 20 feet from our boat. The escort was HUGE – one of the biggest whales we’ve seen in a long time. We also got to see lots of surface activities from other adult whales – breaches, pec slaps, peduncle throws, and even a spy hop. When we deployed the hydrophone, we heard some great sounds. On both Friday’s Whales and Cocktails, and Saturday’s Breakfast with the Whales, we got to watch a  Mom/Baby/Escort pod. Friday’s pod was really active, but Saturday’s pod was just cruising on the surface (though they were surfacing frequently about 100 yards from us). And we finished a GREAT weekend of watching whales with a Double Breach (that’s two whales breaching at the same time) just 120 yards from the boat on Sunday’s Whales and Cocktails!
Mahalo,
Claire
Captain Claire’s Humpback Fact of the Day: In August 2008, the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) changed the status of the Humpback Whale from “Vulnerable” to “Least Concern” reflecting the general upward trend of population levels. According to IUCN standards, animal populations in the “Least Concern” category are at a low risk for extinction. The IUCN classifies the status of humans in the same category.

Wild Wednesday

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Aloha,
We had a busy day on the water on Wednesday, and so did the whales. All day long we watched pods of Mom/Baby/Escort, and competitive pods. In fact, seeing a Humpback by him or her self was a rare sighting. Over the course of the day, we saw 12 breaches, 27 (we counted) tail lobs, 16 pec slaps, multiple peduncle throws and lots of “unidentifiable splashes”. We were mugged a few times by curious Mom/Baby pods, who always seemed to be accompanied by escorts. We did get to hear some trumpeting from “out-of-breath” participants in competitive pods. When we dropped our hydrophones, we still were hearing very loud and clear songs. This has been a very interesting season so far. The last count of the Humpbacks sponsored by the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale Marine Sanctuary takes place this coming Saturday, March 30th…but anecdotally, it appears to us that there has been a higher population density of Humpbacks off the Kohala Coast this year than in previous years. After the count results are released, we’ll let you know if our unscientific observations are correct.
Mahalo,
Claire
Captain Claire’s Humpback Whale Fact of the Day:  In August 2008, the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) changed the status of the Humpback Whale from “Vulnerable” to “Least Concern” reflecting the general upward trend of population levels. According to IUCN standards, animal populations in the “Least Concern” category are at a low risk for extinction. The IUCN classifies the status of Humans in the same category.