Not In Vegas

Posted on January 14, 2017January 14, 2017 by Dusty Roads

All of my co workers are off in Las Vegas for the annual company meeting so it is very quiet here at work. This is the first time I’ve skipped the annual meeting and everyone wants to know why.

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Originally I had planned to go but the company would only fly me out for 2 days, all work meetings and then I’d be jetting back. I didn’t feel the jet lag was worth it. I considered using some vacation time and staying in Vegas at my time share, Polo Towers.

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Its right on the strip and I could have used the time to do some more exploring. Vegas is a fun place even if you don’t gamble. But in the end I decided my vacation time was better spent going back to Hawaii. That trip is only a few weeks away, my birthday present to myself.

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I’ve booked one excursion which is a combo whale watch and snorkel trip. I’m looking forward to that. I’m still on the fence about trying a “Snuba” dive. Snuba is a cross between snorkeling and scuba. The mouthpiece or regulator that you use with snuba is connected to an air tank that is on the water’s surface either in the dive boat or on a raft with an air hose connected. You get to breathe through your regulator just like with scuba but you don’t have any clumsy tanks attached to your back. On the downside you are limited to the length of your air hose. On the plus side you don’t need to be certified for snuba. That’s important to me as I foolishly let my scuba certification lapse. I tried to get it reinstated but NAUI couldn’t find my records so to scuba dive means getting certified all over again. Not an inexpensive endeavor especially since I’d probably only go diving if I was on a tropical vacation.

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The excursion I booked is with one of the many tour companies on Maui but I also want to go out with the Pacific Whale Foundation. I follow their posts on FaceBook . They are a non-profit organization that was founded to help save the whales from extinction. Everything I’ve heard of this organization is positive and since 1980 they have been leaders in educational wildlife watching and eco-tourism. I’m just waiting until I get to Maui to book anymore tours. I can probably get a discount at the concierge desk at my time share. pacific-whale-foundation

Speaking of the Pacific Whale Foundation, they present a Festival on Maui on February. That’s World Whale Day, a celebration of all things humpback. The annual celebration is used to raise awareness and inspire action to protect the whales and their ocean habitat. It’s on the Saturday before President’s day each year but sadly I will not be there that day. I’ll have to keep that date in mind for next year.

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In addition to my quest for the perfect breaching whale photo, I was hoping to be able to see the Iao Valley and the Iao Needle but it was closed due to rain and flood damage when we were there in November.

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I keep checking the official web site for updates on when the area may be re-opening but so far it is still closed. Since February’s the rainy season in Hawaii they probably won’t have made enough progress to re-open but I’ll keep checking.

Photo #2

Posted on December 31, 2016December 31, 2016 by Dusty Roads

I’m still sorting through the Whale pictures. I went on quite a few whale watches this summer so there are a ton of pictures. I eliminated all of the flukes and tails because I have lots of those so they lack that “special” quality I’m looking for.

This one is another surface feeding humpback. I like this because of the boat in the background and the shoreline. It gives you as reference point for size and the relationship to the shore. The water depth is relatively shallow where these whales are feeding. DSC_3183 copy

Check out all of the gulls flying around hoping for an easy dinner.

Photo Number 1

Posted on December 30, 2016December 30, 2016 by Dusty Roads

Although I called this Photo Number 1, I don’t mean it’s necessarily the best. I mean it’s the first photo to make the cut.

This is a photo of a humpback whale “Surface feeding” as he skims the surface with his mouth open, the baleen strains the water out leaving the tiny fish and krill in his jaws.

The photo is sharp, can be enlarged and caught an unusual subject. It’s not everyday you see a whale feeding like this.

Baleen – Stellwagon Banks, Massachusetts Bay, MA

Anyone who knows me understands that I have a fascination with humpback whales. I’ve been following them and whale watching for over 30 years. This season was one of the best whale watch season I can remember. I even saw my first breaching whale. Unfortunately it was too far away for the picture I got to pass the top 10 criteria test.

Humpback Breaching, Stellwagon Bank, Massachusetts

The First Whale

Posted on October 23, 2016October 23, 2016 by Dusty Roads

It’s very exciting. My fall vacation is approaching. I planned it for November because I had to use the trip I was awarded by my time share before December 3 or it would expire. I try not to broadcast exact dates for security reasons but my house won’t be empty this trip. I have my pet sitter going in and out, a house keeper and my neighbor keeping an eye out on Rocky. This will be his first time ever alone so I made sure there will be lots of people around him.

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The first half of the trip will be with my sister, good travel companion that she is, and we will be joined the 2nd half by my cousin. That will be fun. Growing up I could always count on summers with my “Cuz “(and the trouble we managed to get in and out of) . We have plenty of accommodations so we’ll have lots of room and not have to be on top of each other. Relax and enjoy the Aloha spirit.

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Another reason I chose November was because the humpback whale migration is usually November – March and I really want to see them. We’ve gone to Hawaii in early October in the past but that’s too early for the whales. I wasn’t sure if even November would be too early but it was the best I could do on this trip. Luckily I got a Facebook post that the first whale has been officially spotted off Maui.

http://mauinow.com/2016/10/20/pwf-spots-its-first-whale-of-the-season/

I hope I can get a photo like this one.

My best shot so far was one this summer.

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But it was just too far away for a good enlargement. Fingers crossed for Maui!

The Whales are on a Roll

Posted on August 12, 2016August 12, 2016 by Dusty Roads

I’ve been doing a lot more whale watching this season because the whales seem to be especially active this year. They have been so active that I have skipped some of my other seaside activities to get some extra outings and I have not been disappointed.

A couple of weeks after the Great Puffin Adventure I decided to give the morning whale watch a try. I stayed on the upper deck this time. I wanted to try a different angle.

Sure enough, it was a very active trip. Right off the bat we spotted multiple humpbacks. At first we were getting backs showing as they cruised along and a few flukes.

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I have plenty of photos of backs and flukes so I wasn’t too interested in that.

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A bit deeper into Stellwagon bank we found ourselves surrounded by groups of humpbacks surface feeding.

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That’s always fun to watch. There lots of activity with the birds trying to steal the fish that manage to escape the huge mouths.

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Plus the whales swim along the surface with the water streaming out the sides of their mouths as they strain the water through their baleen.

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That alone would have been a successful trip but suddenly there was a mother and calf off the port side. “Mom” would flipper slap and then the little one one would do the same.

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This went on for quite awhile. In fact all of us with cameras had plenty of time to get pictures.

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Eventually, as if to say goodbye, mom rolled onto her back and gave a double wave, both flippers waving in the air and then both mom and calf disappeared beneath the surface. The show was over.

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We watched some more surface feeding before it was time to head back. I was just packing up the camera when a collective WOW! went up. I looked up in time to see a whale fully breaching. It was quite a distance away. It flew fully out of the water like a giant dolphin! The splash down was huge.

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That was the only full breach I saw but the feisty whale gave us a few other partial breaches. I managed to get the camera back out for the end of the show.

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I’m not too disappointed that I missed getting a shot of the full breach. It was amazing to see and I think I appreciated it more by being able to watch it without the little view finder. A breaching whale, at least in this area, is a rare sight.

I’ll keep looking for another opportunity for that awesome photo shot but if I never get it , I won’t be too sad. I’ll chalk it up to the one that got away.