Aloha,
Our weekend of Whale Watching was a lot of fun. On Friday’s 10:00 Whale Watch we saw a pod of 3 whales. Two of them definitely were Mom and Baby, and the third was maybe an escort, but we couldn’t be sure. At one point each of the whales breached, so we saw 3 breaches in total. When we deployed our hydrophone, we were able to pick up one very faint song. We also saw a HUGE pod of spinner dolphins — maybe 200 or 300 of them (it’s hard to count when the pod is so big). On our 10:00 Whale Watch on Saturday we headed North until we encountered a pod of 4 Humpbacks, surrounded by a pod of Melon Head Whales. They, in turn, were accompanied by 3 Pelagic White Tip Sharks. The Humpbacks, Melon Heads and Sharks all hung around us for almost 30 minutes — just about 15 feet away. It was really fun (especially since those deep water sharks didn’t need to be near the surface to breathe…we hardly ever get to see them). And to top it off, we were escorted back to the harbor by a pod of Spinner Dolphins. On our Sunday 8:00 Breakfast with the Whales, we did find a Humpback, but all we saw was a spout and a quick dive, so we called it a “fluke” and invited our guests to come back with us another trip for free. On our 10:00 Whale Watch, we didn’t see any Humpbacks, but we did see that huge pod of Spinner Dolphins again. They put on quite the show for us, leaping, spinning, and bow riding, but since we were out looking for Humpbacks, we called that trip a fluke too, and offered our guests another chance to see the Humpbacks for free.
Don’t miss out on the last week of Whale Watching during our 2011/2012 season. Call 886-6666 ext. 103 or visit www.hawaiioceansports.com to reserve your adventure today!
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.
Mahalo,
Captain Claire