Guests aboard Thursday’s Whales and Cocktails Cruise got to see basically everything you could imagine a Humpback doing in Hawaii. We saw multiple breaches — so many we lost count — (including one from a calf), pec slaps, head lunges, peduncle throws, and tail lobs. And to top it off, a lot of this activity was just 20 yards or so from our idling boat! There was so much activity going on that we never had to travel more than about a mile from the bay – we spent the whole cruise between Anaeho’omalu and the Hilton. Oh, and when we dropped the hyrdophone into the water, we heard quite a bit too. A lot of the chorus seemed to be pretty far away, but there were a couple of very loud, clear voices (indicating the presence of some submerged singers very close by).

Mahalo and have a great weekend. I’ll check in again with a recap on Monday.

Claire

Captain Claire’s Humpback Fact of the Day: Just how difficult is it for a 40 ton, 45 foot long animal to “fly” from the sea in a total breach? Observers have reported seeing Humpbacks breach after only two kick strokes for propulsion. Based on the formula for calculating horsepower, measurements of laminar flow around cetacean skin (how water flows past the skin of the animal), girth and drag in the water, the breaching whale is producing between 1500 and 1700 horsepower in order to “catch air”. We used to think it was closer to 5000 horsepower, but with the aid of a calculator and more accurate measurements, we’ve been able to recalculate more accurately…and even though a lot less power is required than we thought, try this yourself next time you’re in the water. We’re betting you won’t get very far!