This entry was posted on Saturday, October 4th, 2008 at 9:10 pm and is filed under About, Adventure Cruises, Information, Sites, Snorkeling, Snuba, Whales. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Photo Courtesy Katie Grove-Velasquez
Humpback whales of the North Pacific divide into 3 groups, say the experts. Approximately 60 percent of this stock head to Hawaii, 30 percent may head to Baja California area, and the remaining head to the islands south of Japan. This annual migration is for mating, giving birth, courtship and for some juveniles, a learning experience. These whales, according to research, do not reach sexual maturity until they are older than 7 years, but young ones may follow older whales to the breeding grounds to watch and learn. The ancient Hawaiians called this animal Koholâ. This whale, although not a year around resident, was included in the chant of creation and undoubtedly has been making the journey to the Hawaiian Islands for many hundreds of years. Their arrival in Hawaii is always much anticipated with great joy by the locals and visitors alike. The earliest known day is September 27 when a lone juvenile showed up and shortly thereafter, disappeared. They begin trickling in after Thanksgiving and by early December are around the island chain in good numbers. It takes these behemoths about 1.5 months to journey over 2500 miles from their feeding grounds of Canada, south east Alaska, and the Bering Sea where they feast on the fish and krill they love, but more on that later. Researchers tell us they travel about 5 – 7 miles per hour and are capable of bursts of speed of 20 miles per hour, perhaps more, depending on circumstances.
Humpback whales are still a very mysterious animal and best known for their long pectoral fins and the above-the-surface communications such as breaching, head slapping, tail slapping, and many others we will explore in the near future on this site. The pec fins are the length of their heads and also match the width of their flukes (tails). After a 11.5 month gestation a whopping calf is born weighing 1 to 2 tons and 10 – 20 feet in length. A small mother will produce a small baby, big mothers, HUGE babies. The largest humpback on record was an 88 foot long female that was killed by whalers in the Caribbean. Kept records were not detailed enough to give us more information, unfortunately. In future postings we will discuss humpback whales in much more detail and will also explore different avenues of their lives, mating, courtship battles and much more. Please bookmark this blog site and keep returning!
While snorkeling in Hawaiian waters, the possibility of seeing marine mammals is always there. Several species of dolphins, sperm whales, false killer whales, melon headed whales and others are just a few one may encounter while on the water. If you want to see humpback whales up close and personal, a whale watch is a MUST. Many of these animals are known quite well to captains and crew who are always thrilled when it seems a particular animal recognizes the sound of a vessel and approaches to spend time with the humans. We always like to ask: “Who really watches whom?” Join us!
October 6th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Humpback Whales Of The North Pacific | Maui Snorkeling Trips…
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October 6th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Humpback Whales Of The North Pacific | Maui Snorkeling Trips…
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