Mugged Again by the Usual Suspect

Aloha,

The weather was absolutely beautiful for our Friday Wake-Up With the Whales. We saw breaching to the north of us as we left the bay so we headed that way, and it really paid off. Not only did we see more breaching, but we also saw a lot of pec slapping from one whale, while two others swung by about 100 yards away. But the best part of the cruise had to have been the whale who decided to look at us from right beneath the boat…for 10 minutes! On Friday’s 10:00 Cruise we found a Mom/Baby/Escort pod right off the Mauna Kea Resort. This pod stayed with us for over an hour, and we got to see baby breach 5 times. Over the course of the cruise we saw 15 different Humpbacks, and lots of pec slapping too. We also found a pod of Mom/Baby/Escort on Friday’s Whales and Cocktails, and we got to see another adult whale breach about 150 yards from us.
On Saturday’s 10:00 Whale Watch, all of us aboard Manu iwa were looking in the right direction for 2 breaches from 2 different whales – both were about 100 yards from us, and both whales got completely airborne! And the theme of Saturday’s Whales and Cocktails Cruise was “Breach”! There was lots of breaching going on in the distance all around us…and we got to see two breaches within about 150 yards of us. Lots of other surface action was going on too…peduncle throws, tail lobs, and even a few pec slaps.
Sunday was pretty great too, with lots of breaching and surface activity throughout the day. We even got to see a couple of competitive pods.
Mahalo,
Claire
Captain Claire’s Humpback Fact of the Day: Though the Humpbacks we see average between 40 and perhaps 50 feet long, there is anecdotal evidence that the largest Humpback killed by whalers was 88 feet long. This Humpback was taken in the Caribbean.