Mamas and Babies

Aloha,
It was another great weekend for whale watching! Beginning with Friday’s trips…our 8:00 Breakfast with the Whales reports seeing 13 whales mostly concentrated just offshore of the Hilton Waikoloa Village. Guests saw 9 breaches, 4 head lunges, 3 tail lobs, 4 pectoral slaps and had 2 close encounters with our Humpback friends. At 10:00, guests on our Whale Watch from Kawaihae saw 17 different whales, 3 breaches, 4 tail lobs and interestingly, of the 17 sightings, they report 4 different Cow/Calf pods. On our 3:00 Whales & Cocktails, Captain Will reports that the highlight of the trip was when the boat was circled by a Cow/Calf/Escort pod. Guests also saw several breaches just about 400 yards from the boat, and too many tail lobs to count! On Saturday, we saw more action, with the 3:00 Whales & Cocktails trip reporting an astounding 35 different Humpbacks in sight! Besides seeing about 12 breaches in the distance, Angelica, our naturalist aboard that trip, reports a couple of close encounters from two different pods of 3 adult whales, and lots of great fluke I.D.ing opportunities as the whales sounded nearby. On Sunday, we ran a different schedule, so though we don’t have numbers to report, we can say that a LOT of guests saw a LOT of Humpbacks!
Join us on a Whale Watch and see the action for yourself. Ocean Sports offers 3 trips daily just to see the Humpbacks! Call us at 886-6666 ext. 103 or visit www.hawaiioceansports.com to reserve your adventure today.
Humpback Whale Fact of the Day: A Humpback Whale doesn’t reach sexual maturity till it’s about 35 feet long (age 5 or 6 for females, and a little bit later for males).  Researchers believe that most Humpbacks don’t begin calving successfully till they’re at least 10 years old.
Mahalo,
Captain Claire