Lone Humpbacks and Spinners

Aloha,
Our weekend of whale watching was really pretty good for the beginning of the season…Highlights included Saturday’s Whales and Cocktails cruise where we found a lone Humpback about 3 miles off shore of Anaeho’omalu Bay. The whale seemed kind of interested in us as he cruised parallel to us for about 30 minutes. At one point, he surfaced about 20 yards from the boat! And on Sunday’s 10:00 Whale Watch, we started the morning with a pod of Spinner Dolphins just outside of the harbor. As is often the case, as soon as the dolphins sensed and heard the boat, they came right over to investigate (and play). We saw a lot of spins and leaps, and watched them surf our bow wake for about 15 minutes. Towards the end of this trip, we found a smaller Humpback (about 30 feet long) who surfaced a few times relatively near us…and then BREACHED! And later in the day, on our Whales & Cocktails cruise we found a lone whale again who spent some time with us, mostly just cruising parallel to our boat.
 
Join us on any of our Whale Watch Cruises departing daily! 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: Humpback Whales and Spinner Dolphins are actually related — they’re both classified under the scientific order of “Cetacean”. But they’re in different sub-orders. Humpbacks are baleen whales, classified in the sub-order called “Mysticete” (which translates from a Greek word that means “mustached”). Spinner Dolphins are classified as toothed whales, in the sub-order “Odontocete. The word “Odontocete” translates from another Greek word and refers to the teeth these whales have in their mouths.
 

Dolphin Watch Adventure gets off to a Great Start!

Aloha,
We ran our inaugural Dolphin Watch Adventure today on Alala from Kawaihae. Due to the high winds, we were only able to stay out for an hour though…but our guests had the opportunity to reschedule their trip. On a happier note, we did see Spinner Dolphins! Guests braving the winds got some good photos from the bow. So though we wish we could have stayed out for the entire 3 1/2 hours, we did get a glimpse of the future!
Ocean Sports operates the Dolphin Watch Adventure on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, departing from Kawaihae at 8:00 am, and returning at 11:30.
Dolphin Fact of the Day: Spinner Dolphins are in the order Cetacean (just like our Humpback friends), but they’re in a different sub-order. Spinner dolphins are “Odontocetes”, which means “toothed”.
I’ll be sending out Dolphin Watch Updates throughout the season as we operate the Dolphin Watch Adventure. And just like with our Whale Reports, all these reports will be archived in our blog at www.bigislandwhalewatch.com.
Mahalo,
Captain Claire