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800-677-9461
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Fair Wind II Photo Gallery
2007 Whale Photos - 1/27/07
Photos from the Hula Kai Whale Watch - 1/27/07
Photos by CJ Kale Photography | visit website |
01/27/07 (Saturday)
What a trip we had today! Oh my, you had to be there! Today was truly one of those trips where you actually saw a transformation in the passengers because of the whale contact. Let me explain if I can control my excitement - we saw 13 whales in total, 3 breaches, 4 “heat runs”, 3 tail-lobs, 5 spyhops, and several lunges. Then the dolphins showed up! We first saw spotted dolphins (Stenella Attenuata) - one of whom was leaping at least 10 ft. out of the water trying desperately to dislodge a Remora fish that had attached itself to the ventral (bottom) side of the dolphin. We watched the vain attempt for a while then moved on up to the “Lek”. There were several breaches that wowed the group, then we saw a fairly active “heat run” - can you feel the excitement building yet? Well, just when we were about to deploy the hydrophone we saw 2 whales swimming fairly close to the boat, but then they swam off so we lowered the hydrophone and not only did we hear whales, but the clicks and whistles of the dolphins as well. After about 20 minutes of being serenaded by the two groups of cetaceans we needed to get going, because it was getting late...then it happened. A huge fully grown Humpback Whale (Megaptera Novaeangliae) spy-hopped right next to the boat! I mean so close you could see it's eyes looking at you...that close! Not just once, but for more than 25 minutes - then another whale showed up and we had two giants swimming around the Hula Kai as we were dead in the water. They were so close you could see many features on the surface of their skin. We could see the concentrations of barnacles, even the hair on each tubercle. Then I did something that has never happened before...by tapping on the side of the hull the whale turned around and swam back to the boat to check us out, not once but three times...WOW! It was like it recognized our hull or some feature of the hull and was coming back to say hello. The Whale then lifted its massive flukes into the air and held them aloft for all to see, and to get some really cool pictures. I've been doing this for more than 20 years and never before have I had a close encounter quite like this - today won't soon be forgotten if ever. I wish you could have been there to see it. Then I was asked if this was normal Behavior? No, not really - this was really special and way cool! And no, this does not happen everyday. Well that's all for today, see you next time...Aloha!- Jonathan | email Jonathan |
Reservations / Info:
808-345-0268
800-677-9461
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Hula Kai Photo Gallery
