Tag Archives: scrimshaw

Scrimshaw

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Aloha,

We faced some challenging weather conditions on Wednesday, and were only able to run one cruise — Wake Up with the Whales. The Humpbacks were definitely out and about, and guests saw some interesting behaviors — lots of flukes, lots of spouts, and lots of splashes from about a dozen different humpbacks including one Mom/Baby pod.
But since we don’t have a lot to report, we can talk about one of the things the whalers used to do to wile away the time between whale sightings and hunts on the whaling ships in the mid-18th century, It’s called “scrimshawing”  and it is the art of carving intricate designs on to whale teeth, bones and baleen. Traditional scrimshawing survived until the ban on commercial whaling went into effect in the mid 1960’s. 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.
If you’ve never seen the artistry, take a look at this image of Scrimshaw from marinearts.com

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Mahalo,
Claire

What do Warthogs have in Common with Humpbacks?

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Aloha,
We experienced some pretty breezy conditions on Monday, so we only were able to operate our two morning Whale Watch Cruises. Our naturalists are still reporting lots of spouts, but we’ve been noticing that the migration back to Alaska is in full swing. Generally the whales we see later in the season are pods of Mom/Baby/Escort, and lots of lone whales (who researchers are now identifying as alpha males that are optimizing mating opportunities before migrating north). We’re also seeing lots of competitive pods associating and disassociating as they battle to establish dominance among themselves. When we are able to deploy our hydrophone, we’re hearing a lot of singers too. We’ve always maintained that though it’s sad to say Aloha to our Humpbacks, the last three weeks of every season does bring some exciting surface action. Combine cute curious calves with an uneven ratio of males to females, and add in some desperate-to-mate male Humpbacks, and we get the recipe for incredible whale watches!
Mahalo,
Claire
Captain Claire’s Humpback Fact of the Day: Starting out as a way to pass time between whale sightings and hunts on the whaling ships in the mid18th 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.

Mom and Baby Just Travelling and the art of Scrimshaw

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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