Tag Archives: tail lob

Intense Sightings All Weekend

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Aloha,

The whales were everywhere this weekend, and we ran a lot of different cruises, so I’ll just recap highlights from a few of them. On Friday’s10:00 Whale Watch, Captain Baker reports seeing a couple of pods of 3 whales harassing each other for the duration of the cruise which provided lots of surface action to watch. Guests also saw one whale do a complete breach just 120 yards from the boat. This guy was totally out of the water, and everyone got to see it (which is kind of unusual; it’s much more common that most of us are looking a different direction until we hear the shouts from the lucky people who see the whale’s rostrum exit the water)! And on the Whales and Cocktails Cruise we saw lots of spouting and lots of fluking. We also got to see 2 lazy breaches from a whale about 200 yards away from us. He only got half his body out of the water, but he did land on his back both times.
On Saturday’s 10:00 cruise from Kawaihae, we started out with a single whale who breached 4 times in a row, and then did 7 peduncle throws — which certainly got our attention. But after that expenditure of energy, he just swam down the coast spouting and diving. Then we found a pod of Mom/Baby/Escort offshore of the Mauna Kea Resort. We watched the interaction between the 3 of them for the rest of our cruise.
On Sunday’s Wake up With the Whales, we hardly got a break from the action the whole trip. Not only did we see every surface activity in the book, but we had a whale breach not more than 100 feet from us, and at one point two whales surfaced just in front of our idling boat while one whale was tail lobbing right at our stern. On the 10:00 Cruise from Kawaihae, the whales were eerily quiet — until the last 30 minutes when a sub-adult started doing peduncle throw after peduncle throw. Some of us counted 15 — some of us counted 17. By our 3:00 departure for the Whale & Cocktails Cruise, it had gotten kind of windy,and the Humpbacks were reflecting that energy. We watched at least 6 pods of two whales, plus a few competitive pods — and according to Captain Mark, saw lots of tail lobs, peduncle throws, head lunges and breaches from these pods.
Mahalo,
Claire
Captain Claire’s Humpback 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 have observed that most Humpbacks in the North Pacific don’t begin calving successfully till they’re at least 10 years old – the mean average is 11.8 years. In the North Atlantic, Humpbacks generally give birth for the first time between ages 5 and 7.Baby Breaches

Everything you can Imagine a Humpback Doing

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Aloha,

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!

Weekend Recap – Lots of Action

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Peduncle ThrowAloha,

We hope you had as nice a weekend as we did! We started out our Aloha Friday with a sighting of 3 Humpbacks about a mile and a half outside of the harbor. At first we thought one of these whales was a calf…but as we approached we were pretty sure we were looking at Mom, her yearling and an escort. On Friday’s Whales and Cocktails Cruise from Anaeho’omalu Bay, we had to search a bit…but it paid off when we found a mom/baby pod. Baby breached 4 times just 400 yards from us. We also saw another big adult wave and slap his pectoral fin twice — this whale also performed two peduncle throws. On both of these cruises we were able to lower our hydrophone and make out some faint singing.
Saturday morning, guests on our Signature 10:00 Whale Watch got to see 6 different Humpbacks. The first two we saw were the most active…we couldn’t tell what was really going on with them, but we did get to see them approach each other “nose” to “nose” (well actually, rostrum to rostrum) on the surface, after which the whale on the left did a very, very small tail lob. Right after that, the whale on the right did a whole peduncle throw. We watched these two chase each other around for a good hour or so before they separated.
And on Sunday’s Wake up with the Whales, we saw 6 different Humpbacks…and on the Snorkel Adventure which departs just 30 minutes after the Whale Watch returns, we not only saw the same 6 whales (we know that because we were able to identify them by their size, location and fluke markings)…but we even got mugged by one juvenile whale.
But of course, Humpbacks can be seen from shore too…here’s the report I received on Sunday afternoon from one of our favorite OS retail crew, Delilah:
“Two whales were spotted today right in front of the Hilton Waikoloa Village resort traveling north. Two of them were splashing, tail flaps, and playing around. The guests (and some employees) at Lagoon Grill were so excited to see this spectacle, so they dropped their lunch and went to get a closer look…YAYYY!!! whales are here. so exciting”!
Mahalo,
Claire
Captain Claire’s Humpback Fact of the Day:  A fully grown Humpback Whale can hold his or her breath for around 45 minutes. Usually, that’s not what we observe in Hawaii though. We’re more likely to witness 10-20 minute breath hold dives, and if the whale is really active, s/he surfaces to breathe a lot more frequently.

Humpbacks Can Sleep – But How?

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Aloha,
Between our regularly scheduled cruises, our kid’s field trip cruises, and some private cruises, we ran 5 different Whale Watch Tours yesterday — with all those cruises, there are just too many details to send in an email. Suffice it to say, the majority of the pods we saw throughout the day were Mom/Baby/Escort pods. We did get to watch some pretty wild surface action on a couple of our trips, with competitive pods charging around the Mom/Baby duo. We saw tail lobs, peduncle throws, a couple of breaches and lots of spouts and dorsal fins too. We deployed our hydrophones several times throughout the day with mixed results. We were always able to hear the underwater chorus the whales listen to all day, but only a few times did we hear very loud singing (indicating close-by males). Based on what we were watching on the surface, the males close by to us were way too busy to stop and sing!
Have a great weekend,
Claire
Captain Claire’s Humpback Fact of the Day:Humpback Whales don’t sleep as soundly as we do — if they did, researchers believe that they’d drown. Humans breathe in response to carbon dioxide build-up in our blood, but Humpbacks and other marine mammals have to keep part of their brain awake at all times so they remember to breathe. When a Humpback sleeps, he floats just under the surface of the ocean, and comes up to breathe every couple of minutes. We call this behavior “logging’ as the whale looks a lot like a floating log.

Female Humpbacks Communicate?

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Aloha,
On Wednesday’s Breakfast with the Whales Cruise, we got to watch about a dozen different Humpbacks. At first we were just watching a lot of spouting and fluke dives, but when Captain Will stopped the boat, a couple of very big whales surfaced right next to us – twice! Then, we were approached by a Mom with a very small calf (the calf’s dorsal fin hadn’t straightened up yet so we know he was young). After investigating us, they turned to swim away and the little guy did a half-breach. Our 10:00 Whale Watch began with a Mom and her baby coming over to see us. Right after that, we found a small competitive pod of 3 whales. These whales were really active on the surface, giving us a good view of tail lobs, head stands, and even a double spy-hop (making us wonder if the whales were looking at us or were more interested in how they looked to each other above the surface). We finally had to break away from all the action to head back to the harbor, but on the way back in we had whales surfacing 100 yards from us all around the boat. On the Whales and Cocktails Cruise, our onboard naturalist Mike reports seeing “plenty of whales”. He also reports hearing some great sounds from the hydrophone when it was deployed. But the most interesting part of the charter happened towards the end, when we were approached by two different Mom/Calf pods. The pods were about 20 feet apart, and both of them got very active – tail lobbing repetitively, causing us to question whether they were trying to communicate something urgent to each other or to us.
Mahalo,
Claire
Captain Claire’s Humpback Fact of the Day: We’ve never witnessed a Humpback taking care of two calves. We know she could conceive twins (and whalers occasionally would find twin fetuses) but we doubt she could carry twins to term. And even if she could, we really doubt she could produce the approximately 200 gallons of milk she’d need each day to feed two calves

Muggings, Close Encounters, and Lots of Surface Action

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Aloha,
Thursday was an incredible day for whale watching. Between our 3 boats, we ran a total of 11 Whale Watch Cruises, so reporting details for each would be pretty difficult. Highlights included several muggings (the first on our Breakfast with the Whales Cruise, where we were approached by two different Mom/Baby pods at different times). On our 10:00 Cruise from Kawaihae, we also were approached several times by different whales checking us out. We got to see a whale calf attempting multiple breaches (sometimes he just couldn’t quite get the timing right and did more of a back-flop). We also watched a competitive pod of 6 whales charging along the surface of the ocean. Our afternoon trips allowed our guests to see pretty much every surface behavior of the Humpbacks in Hawaii including tail lobs, pec slaps, head lunges, peduncle throws, throat inflations (from whales in competitive pods), and multiple breaches.
Mahalo… have a wonderful weekend, and Happy Valentines Day!
Claire
Captain Claire’s Valentines Day Humpback Fact of the Day:  A Humpback Whale has a big heart. An 80,000 pound whale’s heart averages just over 400 pounds, and according to measurements made by the Nelson Institute of Marine Research, beats an average of somewhere between 10 and 30 times per minute.

Cloud Cover Doesn’t Alter Activity Levels

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Aloha,
Thursday morning we woke up to overcast skies, and on our 10:00 Whale Watch, one of the first questions a guest asked me was “What do the whales prefer? Sunshine or clouds?”. I’ve never read any research documenting surface activity levels based on cloud cover, but based on what we got to see on this cruise, I’d have to say the whales sure didn’t let the grey skies slow them down. We spent much of our time watching a competitive pod of 4 whales. The one in the lead (which we’re guessing was female) spent a lot of time at the surface pec slapping and tail lobbing. We got to see some great bubble trails from the primary escort (researchers suggest the primary escort blows bubbles as a way to mask the presence of the female from the males behind him), and a couple of times he lifted his head showing us an inflated throat (another aggressive move — inflation makes him look bigger to the other males). We also saw not one, not two, but 3 breaches from this pod…and all them were right in front of us. During the cruise, we also saw lots of other Humpbacks spouting, peduncle throwing (twice) and tail lobbing.
We went back out again at 12:30 with 50 keiki from Wai’aha School (and their parents and teachers). Though we were only on the dock for about 5 minutes between the trips, the weather changed entirely. The wind came up – and so did the whales! We saw lots of tail lobs and peduncle throws during this cruise. All told we saw more than two dozen whales. And when we deployed our hydrophone, we heard very loud clear songs.
On our Whales and Cocktails Cruise, not only were we visited by a Mom/Baby/Escort pod, but we got to watch a tail lob competition between two adult whales.
Mahalo, and have a great weekend,
Claire
Captain Claire’s Humpback Fact of the Day: The smooth round flat spot we see on the water after a whale dives is called the “footprint”. Whalers thought it was caused by oil from the whale’s skin calming the surface of the water, but water samples have proven that theory to be false. When a whale dives (or kicks just below the surface) his flukes break the surface tension of the water and create a vertical wake, forming the circular footprint.

Close by Competition

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Aloha,
The whales were out in full force on Thursday! On our Whales and Cocktails cruise guests saw more than 20 different Humpbacks. On afternoons like this one, it’s difficult to decide which direction to head, but Captain Shane decided to leave the bay and head to the north. As we cruised along the coast, we saw lots of surface activity including several breaches, and too many tail lobs to count. We all were surprised when whales surfaced near us, not once, not twice, but 3 times! Of course all good things must come to an end, so eventually we had to turn around and head back to the bay. When we were about a mile and a half from the entrance to the bay, we encountered a competitive pod of 5 whales. When you get that many Humpbacks in close proximity, there is inevitably a lot of posturing going on, and lots of displays from the whales attempting to dominate. Once again we got to see some breaching, head lunging, and peduncle throws. We didn’t have enough time left in the cruise to parallel this pod and find out who eventually dominated, but in the midst of the fray, the whales used us (maybe to block the path of their competitors?), surfacing close by and all around us!
Mahalo and have a great weekend!
Claire
Captain Claire’s Humpback Fact of the Day: Before whaling was banned internationally, Humpback whales’ livers were processed for their oil, which contained a lot of vitamin A. A fully grown Humpback has a liver that weighs between 800 and 1400 pounds.

Mystery of Meaning of Humpback Song Solved!

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Aloha,
The ocean calmed down for us on Thursday, and we were able to run 5 great Whale Watch Cruises. When there are that many cruises, there are way too many details to list in an email update so here are a few of the highlights.
On Manu Iwa’s 8:00 Breakfast with the Whales Cruise, we had a moment between sightings, so we dropped the hydrophone into the water. The vocalizations we heard were really loud and clear. And we may have had a break-through in animal-human communication when Captain Will put the telephone next to the hydrophone. We use a Google Voice Mail transcription service to log our reports…and when the song the whale was singing got transcribed, here is what Google said we were listening to…
Yeah, hey hello, hello hey hello a hello. Hey, hey. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hmm. Hey, this is why I will report for tonight and January will call our number is. Play message
Apparently the mystery of the whale song has been solved…the whales are just saying  “hello” to each other!
The highlight of our 10:00 Whale Watch on Seasmoke had to have been all the surface activity. Mike reports multiple breaches, tail lobs, pectoral slaps and peduncle throws. There was activity on the surface in every direction! And on our Whales & Cocktails Cruise, we encountered a competitive pod that was just breaking up…the two rejected males swam off separately, and the whales we are assuming to be the victorious male and the female swam away together in a different direction. That was fun to watch, but while we were floating motionless, we got a huge surprise when a BIG whale surfaced 30 feet behind our stern! S/he must have thought we were interesting because s/he stayed at the surface looking at us for a long time. Finally, after several spouts s/he arched her back and lifted her flukes to begin a long deep dive. We all got a great look at her tail (which is about 15 feet wide) as she dived.
Mahalo and have a great weekend!
Claire
Captain Claire’s Humpback Fact of the Day: When we say we heard LOUD singing, just how loud do we mean? Well, Humpback whales have been recorded producing sounds at around 185 decibels. Because the decibel scales use different references for sounds underwater than through the air, that’s the equivalent of about 123 decibels for us on the surface…which is as loud as the amplified music at a rock concert when you’re standing directly in front of a tower of speakers.