This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 4th, 2009 at 10:10 pm and is filed under About, Adventure Cruises, History, Information, Migration, Sites, Snorkeling, Snuba, Watching, 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.
Not only did this little guy work out right next to the boat during yesterday’s whale watch, mother patiently stayed nearby and even allowed her calf to nurse close enough for us to see. The beautiful white pattern on the underside of the tail with the calves is usually white to silvery grey. The individualized fluke pattern that humpback whales are known for does not come into place until the individual is at least one year old. When the mother whale allowed her calf to approach us, we noticed the baby still had fetal folds on the dorsal fin. This calf was new! We were very fortunate to get a re-sighting of the pair during today’s whale watch. The extremely windy conditions kept our vessel turning like a slow moving windmill since we were obliged to be in neutral due to the whale’s close proximity, but it seemed the mother whale knew that. Instead of allowing her little one to frolic near the engines, she kept her position on either side of our bow sprit.
What an amazing afternoon! Watching humpback whales is something one never forgets and for many it is a life-changing experience. To see the little ones, who will be back in Hawaiian waters upon their maturity, is even more special. These majestic animals continue to charm young and old. Let’s all continue to do our best to keep them on the planet for future generations, ours and theirs.
