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Fair Wind II Photo Gallery
January 2008
Whale Journal
By our on-board Marine Naturalist, Jonathan Opey
01/30/08 (Wednesday)
Aloha and welcome aboard!
We had lots of fun on today's whale watch! After running north to the lek, we began to have Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) pop up all around the boat. As this was happening we were careful to maintain our 100 yard buffer, so as not to stress the whales. In total we saw 20 Humpbacks, 17 breaches, 3 spy-hops, 2 tail-lobs, 5 pec-slaps, 2 lunges, 1 cow-calf-escort, and 1 huge pod of Spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris). While on the lek we deployed the hydro-phone and heard some incredible vocalizations. Remember all whales vocalize, but it's only the males who sing on the winter breeding grounds. Each trip we're starting to see more and more whales, so be sure to book your reservation soon, as the trips are filling up. Hope to see you soon till then....Aloha.
Jonathan Opey
Director, Hawai'i Marine Research Center
| email Jonathan |
01/28/08 (Monday)
Aloha and welcome aboard!
We had two trips today, and were they ever awesome. On the morning trip we had 6 Humpback whale sightings, 1 cow-calf-escort, and 1 pod of Hawaiian Spinner dolphins. For the most part, the whales were not hard to find and when we saw them they were fairly close to the boat. The highlight of the trip was seeing the cow, calf, escort logging. People were thrilled to see the whales! The dolphins were in their sleep rhythm, so they weren't very active, but it’s still exciting to see them in the wild. On the afternoon trip, the wind and the waves picked up and we thought that we might not make it to the lek to see the whales. However, we have the best Captain, Mitch Stauffer, and he found a way to get through the waves and get us up on the lek for the first time all day. And was it worth it! We saw in total...20 Humpback whales, 10 breaches, 5 pec-slaps, 4 lunges, 2 bottle-nose dolphins, and a 6 whale heat-run. The highlight of the afternoon run was seeing the dynamics of how heat runs start and how the male whales are fighting to get in position to start pursuing the female. I've seen lots of heat-runs, but this is the first time that I was able to see one commence....as a researcher that's special, because we live in the realm of "how did this happen" and now I know! Come join us for an afternoon of excitement, thrills, and learning...till then, Aloha.
Jonathan Opey
Director, Hawai'i Marine Research Center
| email Jonathan |
01/26/08 (Saturday)
View Photos from This Day
Aloha and welcome aboard!
If I had to use one word to sum up today's trip, that word would be spectacular! Once again the whale watch started out business as usual...that all changed after we got to the lek. At first we saw whales on all sides of the boat, which was cool. Then they started showing up out of nowhere right next to the boat...that was awesome. And just when we thought this was how the trip was going to play out, we saw a whale breach about 500 hundred yards away. We wanted to get out there of course, but the wind and the waves picked up and it didn't look like we'd be able to. Then the whale breached again, by now everyone on board was looking and hoping to see more, so off we went to give it a go. In total this whale breached 22 times! We also saw 3 spy-hops, 5 tail-lobs, 4 pec-slaps, 3 lunges, and over 200 Nai'a (Stenella longirostris), Hawaiian spinner dolphins. If you said we had an incredible show today, you'd be right! There aren't enough superlatives to try and describe what we saw....so I'll just say that you missed a great trip. It looks like they're only going to get better, so book your reservation now and we'll see you on the next excursion. Till then...Aloha.
Jonathan Opey
Director, Hawai'i Marine Research Center
| email Jonathan |
01/25/08 (Friday)
View Photos from This Day
Aloha and welcome aboard!
We had two incredible trips today. In the morning on the way to the lek we found the first of two heat runs. It was pretty cool and the whales were fairly active...there were 5 humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), 4 of them were males fighting hard to get into the alpha position. We watched and I explained the dynamics of the heat-run, then we pushed on toward the lek. On the lek we saw: 20 different whales, 4 breaches, 3 pec-slaps, 4 tail-lobs, and a huge pod of Pilot whales (Globicephala macrohynchus). It was cool to see the pilot whales primarily because they are a pelagic species and you don't often see them close to shore. We also deployed the hydro-phone and heard some males singing away hoping to get lucky. The afternoon trip was just as exciting as the morning trip. We saw: 28 whales, 5 tail-lobs, 6 lunges, 4 spy-hops, and a 10 whale heat-run, one of the largest that I saw. We were also visited by a bottle-nose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), this guy was spy-hopping, resting on his back, doing flips forwards and backwards, talk about putting on a show...we had an awesome time! And you can too, just call and make your reservation...till then, Aloha.
Jonathan Opey
Director, Hawai'i Marine Research Center
| email Jonathan |
01/23/08 (Wednesday)
View Photos from This Day
Aloha and welcome aboard!
Today's trip was fantastic! It's like someone flipped a switch and all of a sudden there were whales everywhere. We barely got out of Keauhou Bay when we saw a cow-calf-escort, logging....this gave me an opportunity to explain to everyone the dynamics of this type of relationship and for the people on board to see how whales sleep. After about 10 minutes, we pushed on toward the lek. All along the 20 mile trek we saw whales in every direction. In total we saw 15 Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), 10 breaches, 5 tail-lobs, 4 pec-slaps, 2 cow-calf-escort combos, and a pod of Spinner dolphins(Stenella longirostris). So as you can see, you just never know what the ocean has in store for you on any given day. So make your reservation soon and let's go find some whales, till then....Aloha.
Jonathan Opey
Director, Hawai'i Marine Research Center
| email Jonathan |
01/22/08 (Tuesday)
Aloha and welcome aboard!
Did we ever have fun today! Once on the lek the whales really put on a show. We spotted a total of 18 Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) and between them we saw: 10 breaches, 3 tail-lobs, 2 pec-slaps, and 5 lunges. We also saw a pod of Spinner Dolphins (Stenella longirostris). There were times when we got “mugged” pretty heavily. Mugging is when the whales are all around you and you can't leave the area, so all you can do is shut down your engines and wait for them to show themselves. The whales have the right of way on the open ocean. We spent the afternoon watching breaches, couples, a half hearted heat-run, and a fairly large pod of Nai'a (spinner dolphins). Who knows what we'll see tomorrow, come join us for an adventure of excitement. Till then...Aloha
Jonathan Opey
Director, Hawai'i Marine Research Center
| email Jonathan |
01/21/08 (Monday)
View Photos from This Day
Aloha and welcome aboard!
Today we had two trips and both were awesome. On the AM trip, we saw Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) and Bottle nose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). We had a total of 8 Humpback whales that produced more than 20 breaches, 3 spy-hops, 5 tail-lobs, 10 pec-slaps, 5 lunges, and 1 heat-run. On the PM trip we had a total of 7 Humpback whales and they produced a total of 6 breaches, 4 tail-lobs, 3 pec-slaps, 4 lunges, and 1 heat-run. The whale numbers are starting to pick up; come join us for an exciting afternoon of seeing cetaceans, till then....Aloha
Jonathan Opey
Director, Hawai'i Marine Research Center
| email Jonathan |
01/19/08 (Saturday)
View Photos from This Day
Aloha and welcome aboard!
Today's trip went really well. It started out business as usual, leaving Keauhou Bay and heading for the lek. Once there, the wind picked up and it looked like we were going to get blown out. After an hour of looking and chasing one fluke sighting here and a spout there...we saw these monstrous breaches out on the horizon. It looked like the whale was too far out, but it kept breaching. On the way there, and 8 breaches later, we were hoping to get there and see some activity. Finally, we arrived on site farther than we've been all year. Then with no advanced warning, right next to the boat, one of the largest Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) that I ever saw, launched itself skyward...then rotated in mid-air on it's long axis and slammed onto the surface of the water like a very loud belly flop! At first everyone was stunned because the whale had been quite far from the boat, but it changed direction under water and breached next to the Hula Kai. When the next breach occurred, the whale went higher in the air before landing on the surface. 20x's this whale thrilled us with each display of it's strength and flexibility. Then we realized it wasn't alone. There was another whale with it and this guy was jumping to impress a "special someone." We had no words for what we had just witnessed, all we could do was cheer! Reluctantly after more than 45minutes of this we had to break off and begin to head for home. Come join us, and see the whales do their thing...Till then, Aloha
Jonathan Opey
Director, Hawai'i Marine Research Center
| email Jonathan |
01/18/08 (Friday)
View Photos from This Day
Aloha and welcome aboard!
We had a double run today, the morning was quite clear although there were clouds out on the horizon. We headed for the lek after leaving Keauhou Bay and saw 8 whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). For the most part, the cetaceans were coming to the surface spouting and then diving. This was the pattern for most of the morning. Everyone was stoked to see them and we had lots of sightings. On the way home we saw a huge double breach about 1000 yards away. Heading out for our second trip we were getting spouts and flukes, and then the lek just exploded with whales...when we deployed the hydrophone and cut the engines we were literally surrounded by humpbacks. Some came toward us and others just showed themselves then submerged. We had more than 15 whales on the afternoon run. The clouds that were on the horizon began to build up. The rain came and the rainbows that came afterwards were awesome. The spinner dolphins showed up and were extremely active. At least 4 or 5 times we positioned our boat so they could ride our bow and stern wake. Then we saw a heat-run on the inside. It was fairly active and the males were really aggressive. There were 5 males pursuing 1 lone female and she was making them work to keep up with her. Needless to say, people were thrilled to the point of applauding the Captain and crew....just another day on the Hula Kai! Come join us, and you'll see what I mean, till then...Aloha.
Jonathan Opey
Director, Hawai'i Marine Research Center
| email Jonathan |
01/16/08 (Wednesday)
View Photos from This Day
Aloha and welcome aboard!
What a difference between yesterday and today! Once on the lek we hit the proverbial "mother lode"—two whales breached right next to the boat. Then we spotted a 'heat-run' farther up the coast, so off we went. Upon arrival we were not disappointed, there were 5 males jumping, lunging, pushing, and snorting trying to gain and hold the 'Alpha' position. These guys were not to be denied! This was perhaps the most vigorous heat-run that we've seen all year! The whale totals were way up today: 19 total sightings, 5 breaches (all were close to the boat), 3 tail-lobs, and 4 pec-slaps. So, as you can see we had a good day! Come and see for yourself, I guarantee you won't be disappointed. After all, the whale watches are only going to get better. Til then, Aloha.
Jonathan Opey
Director, Hawai'i Marine Research Center
| email Jonathan |
01/15/08 (Tuesday)
The tradewinds are still here and the ocean was a bit choppy, but we saw whales! We headed up the coast and on the way we had a humpback whale surface right next to the boat. We waited for another visual of this juvenile, but we never saw it again, so off we went towards the lek. Once we arrived there the conditions improved somewhat, actually we saw a double breach, so the conditions improved dramatically. That was the highlight of our trip! The conditions should be much better tomorrow and we're hoping you can join us for an afternoon of whale watching aboard the Hula Kai, til then, Aloha.
Jonathan Opey
Director, Hawai'i Marine Research Center
| email Jonathan |
01/12/08 (Saturday)
View Photos from This Day
Aloha and welcome aboard!
We had a great show today! We had to really hunt to find the whales today, but once we did they really put on a show. In all we saw 13 Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae); there were 3 pec-slaps, 2 tail-lobs, 4 lunges, and a monstrous double breach. We also encountered 2 different 'heat-runs', just to see so much activity was exciting. On the way home we found a large pod of Hawaiian spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris), and after 3 or 4 times riding our stern wake they broke off and swam out to sea. You just never know what you're going to see on board the best viewing platform on the Kona Coast, so be sure to check us out on Monday for yet another adventure aboard the Hula Kai, till then....Aloha.
Jonathan Opey
Director, Hawai'i Marine Research Center
| email Jonathan |
01/11/08 (Friday)
View Photos from This Day
Aloha and welcome aboard!
We had an awesome trip today! It started out pretty much business as usual, introductions of the crew and then heading towards the 'lek'. Once there, we started spotting whales in groups of 1's and 3's, then we headed farther up the coast to see a heat run. At first the whales were hard to see, but then they began to surface and put on a show. We had all the usual behavior we've come to expect to see in a heat run: lunging, grunting, snorting, and jockeying for position to be closest to the female. As we watched the whales, a rhythm began to emerge; the whales would be on the surface for a few minutes, then dive for 2-3 minutes, and then right back on the surface. Upon arriving in Kailua Bay, we encountered a huge pod of Hawaiian spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris). These guys wanted to play! Several times we went around in circles so they could regroup to swim in our stern wake one more time. There were lots of smiles and everyone who disembarked was quite pleased! Be sure to check our site tomorrow, you never know what we're going to see. Till then, Aloha.
Jonathan Opey
Director, Hawai'i Marine Research Center
| email Jonathan |
01/07/08 (Monday)
View Photos from This Day
Aloha and welcome aboard!
We had another double run today and on both trips we had 'heat-runs'. The morning was a bit more active, but the afternoon had more whale sightings and a shark! Before we even left the pier people were seeing blows and lots of surface activity. Once we acquired our cetaceans, they really put on an outstanding show for all on-board. We had huge breaches and males lunging and landing on top of other males. I think the one aspect that really surprised everyone was when the whales were so close we could hear how hard they were breathing. It's one thing to tell people that the air is leaving a whales lungs at over 300 hundred mph, it's quite another when they see it and hear it...WOW! Another factor was the amount of energy that was being expended by the males; the female was out in front and there was a war zone of competition behind her...it was awesome! This afternoon we had to go quite a way down the coast to catch up with the Humpbacks from the morning trip. We found them and they were still competing, lunging, grunting, and snorting, hoping to be the one that the female would ultimately select. The activity never subsided, but the intensity did drop a bit...as we watched, the whales continued on down the coast with no hint letting up in sight. Well I'd better wrap this up, look, the season is on and we're going have lots more days like today...so what are you waiting for? Come join us for an afternoon of thrills that you won't soon forget...that's a promise! Till then, Aloha.
Jonathan Opey
Director, Hawai'i Marine Research Center
| email Jonathan |
01/04/08 (Friday)
View Photos from This Day
Aloha and welcome aboard!
When was the last time you had whale's breath on your sunglasses??? Well if you had been on board the Hula Kai today, it would have been, on both whale tours. We went out this morning, and found an awesome 'heat-run'. If you don't remember from last season, let me remind you, a 'heat-run' is when you have several males in pursuit of a lone female. Their intent is mating, but hers is to lead them on a chase that can last all day! We found the same group of whales when we went out for our afternoon run, so on both trips we had lots of oohh's and aahh's. If you've never seen anything like a 'heat-run', to describe it is rather difficult. Imagine an animal the length of a semi-tractor trailer and weighing as much as 10 elephants each! We saw 5 males chasing a female and she was keeping them at bay. At some point she will call the whole thing off, pick her champion and that will be the end of it. I wish you could have been there to see the awesome display of power and desire that was exerted by these anxious males...it was unbelievable! Perhaps next time instead of reading about it, you'll have experienced it, there is a world of difference between the two! Well that's all for now, be sure to log on and read about the continuing adventures on board the Hula Kai...till then, Aloha.
Jonathan Opey
Director, Hawai'i Marine Research Center
| email Jonathan |
01/02/08 (Wednesday)
View Photos from This Day
Aloha and welcome aboard!
What a difference a day makes...Yesterday was good, but today was soooo much better. We were an hour into the trip before we encountered our first whales. At first it looked like it was going to be another one of those fluke and spout kind of trips, but we didn't have to wait long before we were treated to a series of spectacular breaches. Shortly after the breaching subsided, the lunging started. In all, we had 6 breaches and 5 lunges. The waves were huge, so we weren't able to deploy the hydro-phone today. After spending most of our available viewing time on the 'lek', we had to begin heading home. As I was commenting on the fact that we had not seen dolphins yet...we were engulfed by a pod of Spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris). They stopped and rode our stern wake for awhile, but you could tell they were on a mission, because as quickly as they appeared they vanished as if they were never there. Be sure to log on tomorrow to read about the ongoing adventures on board the Hula Kai. Till then Aloha.
Jonathan Opey
Director, Hawai'i Marine Research Center
| email Jonathan |
01/01/08 (Tuesday)
Aloha and welcome aboard!
What a good trip we had today. However, the weather was another story. We made it all the way up to Kiholo Bay, fighting a severe head wind all the way. We saw whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), but they were being quite elusive, mostly just surfacing, spouting, and diving. We saw a total of 7 humpbacks, but if you didn't see them when they surfaced, you missed them. In spite of the conditions, everyone had an awesome time and they were quite thrilled with the ride on the Hula Kai. Once again we delivered a boat load of happy campers back to our home port of Keauhou Bay. Well that's all for now, be sure to tune in tomorrow to read about our continuing adventures aboard the Water-Dancer! Till then, Aloha
Jonathan Opey
Director, Hawai'i Marine Research Center
| email Jonathan |
12/31/07 (Monday)
Aloha and welcome aboard!
What a way to close out 2007. At first the ride was a little bumpy, but once we got up to the lek the wind died and we had great conditions. For more than 3 hours we had whales, dolphins, and glassy conditions. We saw a total of 12 humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) and two different types of dolphins. When we encountered the Pacific bottle-nose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), they were playing with the humpback calf. As we watched, the calf would break the surface followed by the dolphins. While we were engrossed in this display, to the north some 3000 yards, there was a thunderous breach! It was so big it looked like an explosion. We noticed there were several whales in the area, so off we went in search of more surface activity. Once we arrived on the scene, the whales seemed to have disappeared...they were nowhere to be found. After waiting a few minutes and contemplating leaving, a whale breached right next to the boat. Then it breached again, so we shut down the engines and deployed the hydro-phone. We heard some faint singing; the male whale must have been miles away. After staying at that location and seeing more blows off in the distance we decided to come about and slowly make our way back down the coast. Just past Keahole Point we saw Hawaiian spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris), they were playing in our stern wake and judging by the look on everyone's faces, I'd say they were having the time of their lives! Be sure to tune in tomorrow and read about the further adventures aboard the Hula Kai, till then Aloha.
Jonathan Opey
Director, Hawai'i Marine Research Center
| email Jonathan |
12/29/07 (Saturday)
| View Photos from This Day |
Aloha and welcome aboard!
Today's whale watch can best be described in three words: "quality versus quantity". By the time we left Keauhou Bay, the wind had reduced the ocean to white caps as far as the eye could see. Before I get too far along, we had an apex predator visit the Hula Kai today. Coming in from the pelagic depths was a Tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier). Talk about exciting! Tiger sharks are quite abundant in Hawaiian waters, but we rarely see them. They can get up to 14ft and weigh as much as 2000lbs. They are the only living member of the genus, Galeocerdo. What a way to start the afternoon excursion. We didn't see anything until we were up on the lek. After cruising for 10 to 15 minutes we spotted our first blow. We had discovered a mom, calf, and escort. At first we didn't think we were going to get much activity from these guys, but we couldn't have been more wrong! All of a sudden mom breached...within seconds we had 40 tons of whale in the air and most people didn't see anything but the landing. Then the escort breached, this time everyone was ready and all you could hear were cheers and cameras. The two adults breached a total of 7 times; the calf did 5 spy-hops and 4 tail-lobs. By now we were shut down and dead in the water, you could clearly see mom on her side and the calf was nursing...then mom started to slap her pectoral flipper against the surface of the water. As all this activity was transpiring, out in front of the whales was an entourage of Pacific bottle nose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) playing with the calf and keeping it content. What an awesome display of inter-species communication. And for those lucky few on board the Hula Kai, they got the best whale show on the Kona Coast. Come join us for an afternoon you won't soon forget....till then Aloha.
Jonathan Opey
Director, Hawai'i Marine Research Center
| email Jonathan |
12/28/07 (Friday)
| View Photos from This Day |
Aloha and welcome aboard!
The Kona coast was windy and the seas were choppy today, but we were still able to find whales. On the way to the "lek'', we saw a mother and calf just 'logging' on the surface, we watched them for awhile and then headed north. Just a short time later we encountered a pod of Spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) that were very active and playful. On the lek there were several Humpbacks (Megaptera novaeangliae) just lazily swimming along, doing shallow dives and short breaths. On one occasion we had a huge breach in front of the boat that really got people excited and when the whale breached again people were applauding. We ran north all the way to Kiholo bay, but didn't see anymore whales so we returned to the area where we saw them earlier. We caught a glimpse of them before it was time to head back to Keauhou Bay. On the way back, we spotted another pod of Nai'a (Hawaiian word for dolphin), these guys were heading out to deeper water to hunt; they swam once around the boat and were gone. Each trip so far has been just a little different, tomorrow could be even better than today...come join us and see for yourself. Till then, Aloha.
Jonathan Opey
Director, Hawai'i Marine Research Center
| email Jonathan |
12/27/07 (Thursday)
| View Photos from This Day |
Aloha and welcome aboard!
Today was the first time this season that we saw Humpbacks (Megaptera novaeangliae) in Kailua Bay. We had just left our home port of Keauhou and within 10 minutes of cruising we spotted a mother, calf, and escort. While we watched them, I explained the dynamics of life in a three whale pod. The calf was not very active, just coming up to breathe and then diving. Even something as simplistic as this can be educational, for instance, I got an opportunity to explain echelon swimming and how the mom assists the calf to the surface to get it's breath. These are important developmental skills that must be learned in order for the calf to survive. Not wanting to disturb them we pushed on towards the 'lek'. Once there, we had to go quite a ways before we saw our next whales, but when we did, we were rewarded with 2 breaches right next to the boat. Once again we encountered a couple of Manta Rays (Manta birostris) just hanging out near the surface. We also saw 2 bottle-nose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). Still no singers, but it's early in the season, they'll be here before you know it. Be sure to check out our site tomorrow to read about the ever changing adventures aboard the Hula Kai. Till then, Aloha.
Jonathan Opey
Director, Hawai'i Marine Research Center
| email Jonathan |
12/26/07 (Wednesday)
| View Photos from This Day |
Aloha and welcome aboard!
Since we started this season's whale cruises, we've had some really good shows. Today was by far the best one yet! Once we cruised up the coast and were in position on the "lek", we had a calf breach, then mom, and then the calf breached 4 more times. Then the escort that was with her began lunging, he was huge and made big splashes when he landed. We were so close you could see lots of detail on the whales. Things like the sun glistening off their backs, the counter shading of their body markings, and even a perfect fluke shot. All of this may seem like a daily occurrence, two months from now it probably will be, but to see this much activity this early in the season was truly awesome! I would be remiss in my efforts as an educator, if I didn't take the time to say none of this would be possible without an outstanding crew! I've been on boats in every corner of the globe and I know that we have by far one of, if not the best, Captain that I've ever had the pleasure of working with! When you come out on a whale watch I'll personally introduce you to Captain Mitch, and the rest of the crew. Brion, he's our eagle eyes; Ivan, he’s right there when you need him; and our resident Aussie, Samantha, there are no words to describe how much she means to all of us. But don't take my word for it, come see for yourself....you'll be amazed and glad you picked Fair Wind for your whale watching adventure. We and the whales will be looking for you....till then, Aloha.
Jonathan Opey
Director, Hawai'i Marine Research Center
| email Jonathan |
12/24/07 (Monday)
Aloha and welcome aboard!
What a difference between yesterday and today, as we made our way north toward the 'lek' the wind began to pick up, this makes whale watching a bit more challenging. However, we did find whales on this trip, mostly singles and still somewhat shy. We also encountered the bottle-nose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) hanging out by the fish farms. While we waited for a sighting to occur, our guests learned about historic areas along the Kona coastline that are important in Hawaiian culture. There are many different types of historical venues that you can see from the deck of our boat. So not only will you learn about the humpbacks (Megaptera novaeangliae), but dolphins, manta rays, sharks, and more... There is no telling what we might see on any given afternoon. Be sure to make your reservation soon and I hope to see you on our next excursion. Till then, Aloha.....
Jonathan Opey
Director, Hawai'i Marine Research Center
| email Jonathan |
12/21/07 (Friday)
| View Photos from This Day |
Aloha and welcome aboard.
Once again we had a picture perfect day for seeing whales. After leaving the Kailua-Kona area, we headed straight for the 'lek'. While en route, we encountered one of the largest dolphin pods I ever saw! There must have been over 200 Hawaiian Spinner dolphins (Stenella Longirostris) just playing in and out of our bow and stern wake. It took more than 20 minutes just to get through all the jumping, twisting, lunging, and leaping little bodies. The real treat was watching the babies try to outdo each other...really cool! We also spotted a pod of Bottle-nose dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus). In the pod was "Lefty," he is at least 20 yrs old; I remember seeing him back in 1990. We call him "Lefty" because he had an accident of some kind that permanently kinked his dorsal fin to the left. Then we spotted the Humpbacks (Megaptera Novaeangliae)! The whales must have been juveniles, because they didn't stay around long...just enough to spout and glide near the surface before diving. We had a righteous sunset for our journey home. January and February are right around the corner and if you're not here, then you are going to miss one heck of a season. Hope to see you on board the Hula Kai for an awesome afternoon of excitement! Till then, Alohaaaaaaaa.....
Jonathan Opey
Director, Hawai'i Marine Research Center
| email Jonathan |
12/20/07 (Thursday)
| View Photos from This Day |
Aloha and welcome aboard!
Today was the start of our new season. After leaving Keauhou Bay, we looked for the cow, calf, and escort that were in the area. We searched for 20 minutes and did not find them, so we decided to head north for the 'lek' and take our chances there. We had picture perfect weather this afternoon, one of those 'magical' Kona days... Once on the ‘lek’, we were treated to an outstanding view of Mauna Kea, you could clearly see the Keck observatory. After running north for another 15 minutes, we spotted our whales. We found a mother and calf, just lazily swimming along. At times the calf became quite active; it breached 5 times and lunged twice. It was young enough to still be quite playful, but you could see that playful activity was preparing it to take the next step in it’s physical development. At this stage, calves are still working on their swimming skills. As we watched, the calf would roll over in the water on top of it's mother, who would lovingly lift it gently to the surface to get it's breath. To the calf it was play time - but mom was doing what all mothers do, caring for and nurturing her new baby. This was the highlight of our trip and I'm sure there will be lots more of this before we're through. Be sure to check in tomorrow to find out how well we did, until then Aloha Nui Loa...
Jonathan
| email Jonathan |
| View January 2007 Whale Watch Summary |
| View February 2007 Whale Watch Summary |
| View March 2007 Whale Watch Summary |
Reservations / Info:
808-345-0268
800-677-9461
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