Maui Snorkeling Trips

Photo Courtesy Jim Friend – Not to be used without written permission.

Sometimes it just isn’t exciting enough to be on the water during humpback breeding season and watch the cute newborn calves with their mothers, the big males fighting and body slamming to earn the right to mate.  Sometimes other fun presents itself in a most surprising way.

Such was the case yesterday when a very surprised captain, crew, and videographer came across a bottlenose dolphin interacting with a humpback whale singleton.  They were returning from a morning snorkel trip when the captain saw an animal making small splashes on the surface.  When they got closer they noticed a whale moving very slowly with a adult bottlenose working hard to stay balanced on the head of the whale.  The whale was seen bringing up its head just slightly enough to allow the dolphin to slide down.  The whale went horizontal just below the surface and the dolphin swam over and plopped on the head again and rolling over, belly up.  They did this repeatedly while surprised onlookers took many pictures and the captain did not hide his surprise while trying to explain this behavior, not unheard of, but not seen by our crew and captain until this day.  If you want to see for yourself, please click on the link here and turn up the sound to hear our excited captain’s commentary.

Whale watching in Hawaii is always an adventure, always fun, and if we’re really lucky, great surprises await.  Come out with us!  We can’t promise you dolphins, but we can promise you whales.

We don’t have very many and each one is a real treasure.  Just as whale crazy as the captains and crew, these wonderful, dedicated, and hard working folks come to us from all walks of life, work with NOAA and other local and national organizations, and spend time out on our vessel to talk with the visitors and connect with the wildlife.  Our trips would not be the same without them.

On one particular trip, this special lady, Renee, was praised highly by a parent of two little girls who both sat with her on a bench at the railing and one felt so safe and comfortable she fell asleep, her head snugly in Renee’s lap.  The father blogged about it saying how special both girls felt and how amazed he was by the kindness of our volunteers.

If you are planning a trip to Maui, please look us up.  We plan trips on the water for snorkeling and whale watching daily, depending on weather and scheduling.  Our beautiful vessel is perfect for weddings, private parties, or just getting to know a handful of the many visitors who travel to Maui for whales, sun, and endless fun.  Let us share your memories.

This season has been outstanding for whale lovers.  Not only has the number of animals in Hawaii greatly increased, but the good news from research shows the increase could be as high as 10% instead of the 7% we were told before.  In the past two weeks the channel waters around Maui have been whale highways with mother/calf groups everywhere we look.  The above picture of a large mom pec slapping appeared to be instructional.  After two or three slaps, the little one would jump out of the water in an effort to perfect the breach.  In order for the breach to be executed perfectly, two thirds of the body must be out of the water and a landing on your side, or back, must bring the finish.  The little calf tried again and again while we watched.  When we moved away to give them their precious bonding time together, the calf was still trying.

In the above photo you can see the brilliant white shading of the underside of this large mother humpback’s fin.  Researchers tell us the repeated usage of her right pectoral fin would mean she is right ‘handed’, and about 80% of the whales are.  How very interesting!  We also know that there are five ‘finger’ bones in their pectoral fins.  This goes for all cetaceans.

Whale watching in Hawaii is in full swing, with over half of the whales preferring Maui County to the other islands.  If you are coming out to the Hawaiian Islands, whale watching should be at the top of your list of things to accomplish while here.  We would love to take you out with us.  Don’t forget your camera!

 Big mothers can have enormous calves, small mothers have much smaller ones.  I always smile seeing the faces of visitors show great surprise as we explain that small is a relative term.  A small mother humpback could still be pushing 35 – 40 feet and the calf would be 1/3 her length, weighing in at about 1 ton or more at birth.  We know from researchers that mother humpbacks will never leave their young ones, but the young leave mom when they are ready, at around 1 year old.

This calf appeared to be several hours old, or more.  We know they start their work-out programs right after birth, and perfect their taught behaviors over time.  This little one was practicing the breach.  To execute a breach correctly, 2/3 of the body must be out of the water.  This calf was a perfectionist.  He/she was determined to do just that, or even better.  Several times he did a marlin impression by leaping and clearing the entire body, tail and all, much to the delight of all on board.  Each leap brought joyful exclamations, shutter clicks and much laughter from all whale watchers.  The calf looked as if he, or she, was enjoying the workout as well.

As with nearly every day this season, except for only 2, the whales decided to approach and do some people watching.  We were shut down and waited quietly, most of the passengers talking with hushed voices, anticipating each blow as they got louder with each tail stroke.  They approached to about 30 feet away and paused, the calf rolling up to look at everyone.  Mother moved slowly, but deliberately up our port side and out to the bowsprit area when passengers leaned over gleefully, some taking pictures, some quietly watching, and some exclaiming out loud how amazing this encounter was.

As for me, I am always caught up in the moments, happily taking pictures and answering questions.  Every day we learn from these wonderful, endangered animals.  I fervently hope we can save them.  If you’re heading this way, please come out with us.  We go nearly every day, weather and conditions permitting.  It is a whale freeway out there!  Fun awaits.

If we ever doubt that animals can teach us, all one needs to do is go on a marine safari.  Today we had over 45 minutes of close encounters with two very large animals.  They dove next to us, paused by our engines (which were shut down) and allowed our videographer to get footage of their grapefruit-sized brown eyes while lying on our swim step, camera in hand and snorkel mask on to keep track of their deliberate movements around our vessel.   Whether or not they can hear everyone on board running from side to side, squeals of delight and exhuberant shouts when they surface close by, we can’t know, but these animals taught us patience today.

Several times they dove down slowly, enabling us to watch as they disappeared into the clear blue depths.  We were in about 220 feet of water and the clarity was about 100 feet.  Three times they chose to stay down for 10 minutes.  How very interesting it was exactly 10 minutes each time!  While we waited we checked our cameras, refilled our drinks, some grabbed a hot dog and others tried to quickly empty some of the memory cards in anticipation of obtaining more amazing shots upon their return.

It was a glorious day.  Perfect weather, calm seas that were nearly glassy, and just enough breeze to keep cool.  Every time we have a mind blowing safari we ask ourselves,  “How can we top this?”  It seems that the answer mother nature has is always an unexpected and amazing surprise.  I can’t wait for the next trip!  If you are coming to Maui, whale watching should be on the top of your list.

Today’s whale watch had an amazing and rare surprise in store for all aboard.  Spinner dolphins!  In all the many years I’ve been working on the water, spinners are a very rare occurrence.  Usually seen between Maui and Lana’i, these animals came over with a juvenile humpback.  We estimated the dolphin count to be about 35-40 animals.  Spinners are the smallest dolphin in our county waters, topping out at a mere 6′11 for females and 7′9 for males. They can weigh 143 lbs. for females, and males, 172 lbs.  Their lifespan is unknown, but researchers tell us they believe spinners live about 20 years.  They have a very long rostrum that is dark and a black eye stripe that runs to the pectoral fin.  Known for spinning and somersaults, these are a thrilling animal to watch.  They can move very quickly and disappear as fast as they showed up, but today’s animals chose to hang with the humpback and cruise over to do some people watching.  It is very interesting to note that when there are children aboard, it seems the dolphins tend to stay longer.  Whether or not this is true, or just a naturalist’s imagination doesn’t really matter.  Dolphins seem to be very curious of humans.

Today our animals stayed with us for more than 1/2 hour.  They delighted, excited and thrilled some passengers who were moved to tears.  The children squealed and giggled, running around the vessel trying to keep up with the dolphins movements.  The dolphins circled, went under and up the other side, took off in another direction three different times, but then returned below the surface.  Upon their return, they jumped, or simply showed up under the bowsprit, delighting all who waited there.  I am neglecting to mention that in between disappearances of the dolphins, the juvenile whale (about 30′ long and silvery) would show up, her blows loud enough to make everyone jump.  We had gotten used to hearing the little ‘puff’ sounding exhalations of the dolphins.  We believe all these animals were enjoying themselves as much as we were enjoying the special gift nature gave us today.

Tomorrow we head out once again.  Our hearts full, but expectations high.  The weather report says sunny with light trades of 10-15 mph.  We will have cameras and binoculars ready, even though this year we haven’t had to use binoculars yet!  Whatever mother nature offers, we will gratefully accept.

Photo Courtesy Katie Grove-Velasquez

Both males and females are seen holding pectoral fins skyward and slapping the surface, belly up, hoping to attract a mate.  Pec slapping, as it is called, is commonly seen in the breeding grounds of Hawaii, and the sound this behavior makes is unforgettable.  They are always belly up because their pectoral fins cannot go the other way, say the researchers.  It is really fun to also watch mom and calves doing this same behavior as calves struggle to learn and get it right while mom teaches with seemingly endless patience.

To witness this behavior is truly wonderful.  Not only does it allow a photographer the opportunity to obtain amazing shots, but it enables all viewing to see how white the belly and underside of the pectoral fins can be.  There are ventral pleats that run from the chin plates to the navel that can also be seen.  On newer arrivals there could be barnacles on the tips of the fins, like on the animal seen in the above photo.

The avid whale watcher understands the many benefits of this important communication move the humpback whales are well known for.  For the novice watcher, I have been told by many that this and many other behaviors witnessed quickly reels them in and they are now hooked.  Aren’t we all?  Tomorrow we will head out with expectations high and cameras ready.  Humpback whales, here we come.  What will we learn from you today?

Today’s whale watch was amazingly eventful.  We were barely out of the harbor when a pod of seven bottlenose came over to investigate and people watch.  It was delightful!  There was a small calf traveling next to mom, and as fast as they moved the calf had no trouble keeping up.  Bottlenose can move at 20 mph and can hold their breath for about 20 minutes.  In Hawaii they are seen eating all sorts of fish like razor fish, shrimp, flounder, and other bottom dwelling animals.

In these pictures you may notice the little notch out of the dorsal fin of a male.  He also had tooth rakings on his sides, markings usually received during small tussles with other males.  He did not seem quite as curious as the female and calf were, but did circle us a few times and spent time off the bow peering up at the excited people taking their pictures.  While humpback whales individuals are identified by their fluke patterns, bottlenose dolphins are identified by their dorsal fins.

According to researchers there are over 130 bottlenose in Maui County waters, which would cover the channels to Moloka’i, Lana’i, Kahoolawe, and Molokini.  Research has shown this population to be separate from those off O’ahu and Hawaii.

We call whale watches ‘marine safaris’, and this is just one of the reasons why.  Every day is different and there is so much out there to enjoy!  Today was dark, cloudy and raining lightly.  Happy safari goers wrapped their cameras in Ziploc bags, wore rain gear if they had it, and if they didn’t we offered large trash bags to poke head and arm holes in so they could stay dry.  Everyone had a wonderful time and some will be back out with us this weekend.  I can hardly wait!

He was a beautiful male!  Look at that pectoral fin.  It is brilliant white on the underside, but what was amazing was the fin was nearly equally white on the upper side.  The turquoise glow below the fin is his very white belly.  If you look closely at the picture you can see a barnacle with feeding arms fully flared on the tip of the fin.

This male was the primary escort in the middle of a battle that included at least five other males.  The reason for the vagueness is because no one really knows how many whales are in the competitions.  As these amazing animals come up for air, there could be many below.  Since they are capable of breath holding for a very long time (45 minutes approx.), so much depends on what is happening below the surface.  The primary escort stays with the female, usually right by her side, for a period of time.  Whether or not they have mated no one can tell, not even the researchers, but we do know that this male is the ‘chosen’ one — for now.  The other males are interested, very interested.  Is it because she has been mating?  Possibly.  Is it because she releases pheromones in the water to let males know she is available for mating?  Very likely.  However, there is some sort of selection process these males must endure, so the battles can be very intense.

For whale watchers, these battles are definitely a favorite, and vessel captains are always looking for them.  From a distance the best way is to look for multiple blows in a very tight area.  The more blows, the more may be going on!  Whale watching in Hawaii is a wonderful way to better understand the life cycles of the endangered humpback whale.  If you are coming to Hawaii, don’t miss out!

We must have looked really comical to anyone else watching a group of passengers on a vessel running wildly from side to side, peering into the water, taking pictures, shouts of exuberance and running to the opposite side while laughing like so many excited children. Our fun caught the Coast Guard’s eye and they joined us for awhile to watch these animal’s highly unusual behavior, the broad smiles of all three visible from our boat.  They waved before leaving.

Just a couple of days ago, while only several miles out, we came across a large pair of humpbacks.  Most of our passengers were first-time whale watchers and the excitement on board was so thick it felt electric.  These two approached right after we reached the 100 yard limit and shut down our engines.  One animal was leading and as she approached, she rolled slightly to look up into the faces of everyone peering into the water.  She dove under our vessel and slowly disappeared.  Everyone moved as quickly as was possible on a moving platform, laughter of excitement coming all.  As we breathlessly watched, her head slowly appeared (she was not in a hurry) and she rolled over while rising to the surface, exposing her belly and gender identification to everyone.  She swam about 10 yards before rolling back over to take a breath, swam out another 20 or 30 yards, made an incredibly swift turn and headed back over.  The animal with her followed dutifully, although he didn’t seem to relish ‘toying’ with the noisy beings on board this floating (and possibly annoying) vessel on the surface.  After all, most humpbacks, while in the breeding grounds, have only one thing on their minds.  But this female seemed really curious and maybe was enjoying herself while ‘people’ watching.  She appeared to be nearly 45 feet in length, the male was slightly smaller.  With whale watching here in Hawaii, when these animals approach a vessel within the 100 yard approach limit, it is called a ‘mugging’.

How do we know the second animal was a he?  According to researchers, females in breeding grounds will not travel with a ‘girlfriend’ like they do up north in the feeding grounds off California, Oregon, Washington, Canada and Alaska.  In breeding grounds, pairs are usually a male/female, or two males.

Their ‘thumbprint’ identification is on the underside of their flukes (tails) and I kept hoping she would show us hers.  They were with us nearly 20 minutes, but after being patient, we were finally rewarded.  She did a fluke up dive only a few yards away and many pictures were taken.  I must say, this is one animal that the captain, crew, and I did not recognize as we do with some of the animals, but with the North Pacific population growing approximately 7% annually and now number about 20,000 animals, there will be many more we won’t recognize.  Many of our fluke pictures we have taken, and will continue to do so, are being put into a folder and are continuously sent to researchers in Washington State to add to the catalog of thousands.

 Look carefully at the belly photo.  In the foreground is the genital slit.  Moving up the belly there are two small slits which are the mammary areas, the nipples tucked in and out of sight.  Just above those is a small-looking (about the size of a basketball cut in half) circular glob of tissue.  This is called the hemispherical lobe.  Females have one, males do not.  When this picture was sent to a well respected researcher working in Hawaii, his reply was ‘WOW, that was close.  Wish all identifications were that easy!’.  Close, indeed! She eventually moved away, slowly, the male following closely.  Everyone hugged each other and excitedly discussed the amazing photos that were taken.  Our captain waited for them to be more than 100 yards before starting our engines.  We ventured about 1/2 mile further west to a mother, calf, and male escort.  The trio were pretty quiet and after about 10 minutes the large male approached.  Seeing this, our captain quickly shut down our engines.  The escort made a very fast advance toward our port bow.  When he was about 50 yards away he made an equally speedy u-turn and headed back to the mother and calf.  Waiting for all three to be a safe distance away our captain fired up the port engine, but before he could start the starboard engine an explosive blow was heard right off our stern.  We could not believe it.  It was the same two back for another visit!  They had followed us!  Excited shouts of delight came from all, cameras everywhere could be heard working at a rapid rate.  Our videographer was equally busy capturing every moment she could.  This time they stayed about 15 minutes, with the female raising her incredibly long pectoral fin while right off our bow, and dropped it with a resounding smack on the surface.  Researchers say this is a communication, possibly letting the male know she is available for mating.  We were hoping something a little X-rated would happen, but it did not.  When they slowly swam away, our entire group, including crew and captain stood in silence, a little sad they were leaving, but the reverence felt by all was unspoken.  

We have noticed this season a very unusual amount of animals are approaching our vessel.  Why this is, researchers can only speculate.   After this amazing encounter how could any of us possibly hope for another?  So, tomorrow we will leave the harbor, our captain, crew, excited passengers and I, all equipped with cameras and excitement barely containable, knowing that whatever these animals want to share, we will gratefully accept and dare not ask for more.