Maui Snorkeling Trips

They beat the water with a nearly rhythmic sound.  Sometimes inverted, sometimes not.  Males do it, females do it, and even the calves do it.  Why?  The reasons and circumstances can be many.  Sometimes during a competition, males may all begin.  Researchers speculate it may be a testament of strength and power, announcing territory, showing dominance and many other reasons.  Calves practice until they get it right.  Mothers show the calves how to do this behavior right.  Whatever the reason, to witness such a show of power and strength is something that whale watchers never forget.

Researchers tell us that the group of muscles that run from the tail into the body is called the peduncle group.  These muscles are very fibrous and strong, similar in structure to the group of muscles in a kangaroo’s tail.  It is this group of muscles that the calves work on very quickly trying to thrust their bodies out of the water in a sloppy breach or head slap until they perfect their skills.  This group of muscles also propels a large animal (one ton per foot) out of the water to land in a resounding splash that can be heard for quite a ways.

Whale watching in Hawaii is in full swing with Maui County being the hot spot.  Researchers tell us that this area is favored by over half of the population that comes to Hawaii.  Planning a trip this way?  Better hurry!  Every day whales are leaving the area, but calves are still being born.  We’ll save you a seat!

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!