Tag Archives: humpback whales

Whale Watching in February

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Watch out for the Whales

February is the highpoint of the whale season in Maui. The whale season is said to run from Mid December to Mid May but I can vouch for February. You can even watch the whales from shore! I love the whales. I think they are amazing animals and here you get to see the tiny babies as well as the adults. Of course “tiny” is relative. A 2 ton baby isn’t tiny by human standards but next to its mama, its just a bit of a thing.

Whales

What’s a Little Motion Sickness?

My dinner cruise price included a whale watch trip. I hadn’t planned on going whale watching this visit because I forgot to pack my motion sickness patches. The whale watches can get a little rough and I am prone to sea sickness. How many people do you know that can get sea sick while scuba diving? I did!  But that’s a story for another day! Anyway I had a whale watch coming to me so I decided to cross my fingers and take a chance.

Stock Photo

Whale Watching with Hawaii Ocean Project

The Whale watch boat was berthed in Lahaina Harbor, a very popular starting point for many whale watching companies. To pull out of the harbor everyone has to be seated. This is true for all of the cruises. The crew of our ship made all the proper announcements but they didn’t enforce them. Adults and children were still wandering the decks as we cast off. They went on to announce that serious photographers should be seated on the lower deck in the bow. I found my seat in the bow and prepared my camera. I shouldn’t have bothered.

Were there Whales?

just missed but got the splash

We saw whales. There was a lot of breaching and tail slapping. I can’t criticize the trip for that. But I will say I won’t go on this trip again. Getting shots of whales is hard enough without playing a dodge game with people holding their cell phones up in front of everyone. I was competing with heads, elbows and children being lifted on shoulders. This is not a trip for a serious photographer. There are other whale watching boats that have stadium seating so no one has an obstructed view. Or I’ll take one of the smaller rafting tours. All the seats on those are good and its very exciting. Let the families go out on this trip. I’ll find a different one next time.

Tail Slapping

A Little Sunset Cruise

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A Dinner Cruise in Paradise

Cruise the coast of Maui at Sunset. Dine on prime rib and baby carrots. Drinks flow freely. Live entertainment as if the views aren’t enough. What could be better. How about an escort of humpback whales?

Maui Princess

The Maui Princess

I’d taken the Maui Princess Dinner Cruise before. The previous year my sister, my cousin and I had enjoyed the relaxing sunset cruise along the Maui Coast. It was a beautiful evening and I think its safe to say a good time was had by all. It wasn’t exciting but it was relaxing. So as I considered my options for my last two days in Hawaii, taking the cruise again seemed like a nice idea. My goal this trip was to relax and unwind. Not go on an adrenaline kick.

The Old Lady and the Newly Weds

west Maui Mountains

I had to laugh when I was taken to my table. Single travelers must be a real headache to tour operators. Most of the tables were set for 4 people. What to do with a lone senior citizen? In my case they seated me with a young newly wed couple. The newly weds were on their honeymoon. They were good sports about sharing their table with me. The woman entertainer was quite good but it wasn’t long before she was upstaged.

The Humpback Escorts

This time of year is whale season. We’d just left the harbor when a pair of whales surfaced right next to us. One was clearly a mama humpback and the other was her baby. According to our captain the baby was probably only 2-3 weeks old. Next to Mama it looked tiny. The mama whale was teaching her baby to breach. It’s the way the baby gets in shape for the long journey back to Alaska. The pair stayed close all evening putting on quite the show. The baby never seemed to tire of his breaching acrobatics.

Breaching baby Humpback

A Magical Night

The whale pair stayed with us the whole evening. At times the antics were so much fun even the crew stopped serving to watch. We were all seated on the top deck so there were no bad seats. I didn’t bring the camera so I had the freedom to just sit back and enjoy. Yes, I felt a pang to not be capturing the action but sometimes its nice to just be immersed in the experience.

 

Its a Beautiful Day on Stellwagan Banks

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Sun, Seas and Stellwagan BanksWhale Tail

Taking advantage of  a beautiful day I climbed aboard another Captain John Boats Whale Watching Tour to Stellwagan bank. I’ve had a tough time seeing Breaching whales when I’ve gone out. They seem to come around  on every trip except the one I’m on! Very frustrating! The trips have been good. There are whales every time but not doing really exciting behaviors.

View from the BowWhere to ride? Top deck or bottom?

I’ve been riding the top deck thinking I’d get a better angle for my photos. The problem is that if I’m on the right, the whales are on the left. Ugh! It’s just the luck of the draw. Usually when the whales show up on one side, everyone runs across to that side of the boat. I’ve stopped doing that. But today I think I have a solution.

I’m King of the World

I grabbed the middle seat in the front row on deck one. This is right at the bow. I can run out to the tip of the bow and watch the whales on the right, left and front. About the only view I don’t have here is off the stern. I made myself comfortable for the hour and a half ride to Stellwagan Bank National Marine Sanctuary,

 Gurnet Light

WOW A 10- Plus Plus Plus tripWhales slpashing a boat

The first whales we found were doing “close ups” for another Whale Watching ship. There were a lot of small fishing boats in the area too. As we approached a whale did a full body breach right next to us. Of course I missed it.  I only saw the splash. The next breach practically landed on one of the fishing boats. There were flipper slaps and tail breaches and multiple body breaches! It was during all this activity that I managed to catch a full body breach. We’d only just begun and the trip was already a winner.

 

Breaching Whale

Its Breaching Whales and Hungry Sharks

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The Whales are Breaching!

Breaching Whale off Cape Cod

Breaching Humpback Whale Stellwagen bank 2016

Last year was the first time I ever saw a whale breach here in New England. I’ve see lots of other behaviors but I always thought breaching was only in Maui, HI or Alaska. So with that in mind I went to Alaska but no breaching there. Finally last winter I spotted a breaching calf. A 2000 lb baby was leaping for joy. It was dawn and the day was still very gray. A good picture but not what I’ve been envisioning. My quest continues.

Breaching Humpback Calf

Breaching humpback calf in Maui, HI 2017

They were Breaching before my tour and after

I follow Captain John Boats on Facebook and all season I’ve been seeing posts about breaching whales on their tours. I finally got out on a tour last week but as you know from my last post, no breaching. In fact, right after my tour, there is was! Another post about a breaching whale. I know they aren’t trained performers but just the law of averages seem to favor my chances. How is it that I keep missing this amazing behavior?

Up the Stakes for a Trip that will be hard to top!

As I was sulking over my continued misses the Whale Watching trip to beat all whale watching trips hit my feed. How about whales and sharks? Yup, a recent trip delivered on the whales and then found a whale that had recently died from entanglement injuries. According to the news report it was a dead minke whale. Its always sad to see an animal that has died but nature is very harsh. But this time the passengers got to see how nature recycles. The death of one animal sustains another. What was being sustained this time? 2 Great White Sharks, that’s what!

Great White Shark

It’s Shark Week on Cape Cod

This is amazing. There is a tour company that advertises great white viewing but the folks on this whale watching trip never expected to to see a shark. This tour would be off the chart if you rated it. It delivered everything advertised and then dished up 2 great white sharks. What I would have given to be on that trip! Rating 10 +++++++ Way to go Captain John Boats!

Great White photo provided by Google Search

Save the Whales

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Back from Maui with only limited success I watched the Kia Superbowl ad that I missed on Superbowl Sunday because I was on  plane over the Pacific. I laughed out loud as I watched Melissa McCarthy answer a call to “Save the Whales.

melissa-mccarthy

She rushes out in a little pontoon boat only to have a huge whale breach right next to her! As the behemoth splashes down it lands on the end of her boat catapulting her into a larger whale watch boat.  Its all an exaggeration but I suppose the whale landing on the boat is a real possibility…if you got that close.  I sure would have been happy to take my chances with a close encounter.

So how would I rate my 4 experiences?

#1. For the best photo ops had to be the Pacific Whale Foundation’s  Photo Safari. It was the only one that actually delivered a breaching whale, even if it was a baby.

Baby Whale Breach

#2. For shear fun and excitement, I’d have to vote for the Ocean Rafting. I had a great time when I was on a pontoon boat back in November and got the same thrill this time looking for whales. I love the smallness of the boat and being so close to the waves. Plus we saw plenty of whales. I would not recommend this one for small children. We had all adults on our trip.

Man O War

#3. Pride of Maui Whale watch and Snorkel. I hate to put this ahead of the Pacific Whale Foundation trip but the arrival of the spinner dolphins kind if pushed this over the top. Plus they did a great job with the barbecue lunch. Seeing a tiny octopus while snorkeling was another plus in their favor even though they can’t control what fish or animals we might see.

dsc_4445a

#4. Pacific Whale Foundation. This is a great family trip. The boat is large and stable in the water. The naturalists are professional and friendly and a portion of the cost goes to support Whale Research. It may not have made the top spots in this particular lineup but we saw whales, it was educational and I would not hesitate to go again.

Mom and Calf

Any of the 4 trips would be great. It kind of depends on what you are looking for and if you are a family with small children or a solo adventurer.

Baby Humpback

I  can’t wait until the whale season next year!

Cuise ship sighting