Tag Archives: whale watching

It’s Raining but Its not Raining Men

Posted on by | 2 Comments

Its Raining Men – NOT!

Its raining and the prediction is rain for the next 10 days! I guess that even though we left April behind we didn’t escape the April Showers! The flowers, trees, grass, weeds and all the other spring things are definitely blooming. Now if the rain would just stop for a day or two…on the weekend.

What’s been happening?

Aside from the rain I’ve been working. I clocked 67 hours this past week.

I was so looking forward to doing something fun this weekend and then sharing it here but mother nature had other plans. Saturday it poured until about 2 pm. Then the sun did come out. You know that yellow thing in the sky? But where could I go with only a couple of hours? Its  Kentucky Derby Day and I love to catch that race.

I’ve been watching it for years and hate to miss it. Someday I plan to attend in person. Now that would be something to write about!

More Than Work!

Ok I did more than work. I enrolled in a class that runs 5 Thursdays in June. Its how to set up and design a blog. Maybe I’ll finally get the instruction I need to Tweak this baby! I can’t wait to start the class. And one other thing happened. I got my renewed passport back, not that I’m planning any overseas trips.

I’m still fixated on the good old USA. I also picked up a renewal of my motion sickness patch so I’m ready to get out on the ocean. Look out whales and sharks!

Captain John Boats

Speaking of chasing whales, I usually go out of Plymouth, MA with Captain John. http://www.captjohn.com/ I follow them on Facebook too. https://www.facebook.com/CaptainJohnBoats/ His feed has been filled with great whale sightings already this spring. Even the humpbacks have started to come back. Right whales, white-sided dolphins…I can’t wait to get back out there!

Rain, rain go away

All right mother nature. I’m all for rain. Its good for growing things but can you make it rain when I’m at work or asleep at night and give me some sunshine on the weekends? Please?

 

 

Save the Whales

Posted on by

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

 

A Whale of A Time

Posted on by

Its the 4th of July weekend and I haven’t done anything that I wanted to do.  I thought I had my former housekeeper coming over on Saturday to finish the paint job her son agreed to before he skipped town but she never showed. She finally Texted me late Saturday that she had to work but would come on Monday. I guess since she is from Brazil our 4th of July isn’t that important to her.

fireworks

I wanted to be here to keep an eye on the painting but I wasn’t going to give up my whole weekend either. Sunday I spent running around with my list of must-haves for the for the Puffin trip. so That just left today.

Capt. John’s posts to Facebook have been filled with successful Whale watching trips…calves, breaching and pods of over 100 whales. Amazing stuff. I decided to try the early trip. Maybe I’d be able to get back before they were all done with the painting.

Whales1

We were still quite away out from Stellwagon bank when I spotted a blow off out port side. I tapped on the glass for the crew and pointed. I got a nod and few minutes later the naturalist came on the speaker to acknowledge that whale but said he “wasn’t easy to watch” so we’d keep going.

The Captain played Sweet Caroline over the PA and encouraged everyone to sing along. That’s a great way to keep our minds off the whale!

Whale Fluke1

It was probably another 10 minutes when I spotted another blow, then another and wait. there’s another one! Pretty soon We had whales all around us and I stopped counting.

Close to the Boat

They were surface feeding and bubble net feeding. I had not seen that in years! I took over 100 pictures that I need to go through to share but here are a couple to give you some idea how close they came to the boat.

Baleen1

I’ll share more in another post. Right now I hear the fireworks starting so I need to keep an eye on Rocky. The noise scares him.

 

Mermaid Kisses ~ Starfish Wishes

Posted on by

This was quite a weekend. Memorial day 2016 ranged from HOT HOT HOT to cool and rainy. Something for everyone.

Saturday was the best day and my original plan was to head to the beach. But after some thought I decided on a whale watch. I figured if it was 90 degrees and the first weekend of the summer that I would be one of many who would be heading to the beach. So Instead I headed to Plymouth and the Captain John Boats.

I stopped for lunch at Cabby Shack where I spotted the wall art quoted in the title.

IMG_20160528_123013

I just like the whimsy.

IMG_20160528_115909

Once I had lunch out of the way I headed over to the boat. I was very early but once again I was concerned about summer crowds. Turns out it wasn’t too bad.

Scan

Whale's Tail-2a

If it was 90 degrees on shore the temperature dropped like a stone once we left the harbor. I was glad I brought a warm hoodie. The trip took us the the same place we always seem to end up, the tip of Cape Cod just off Provincetown. There, with the Pilgrim Tower in the background, we spotted out first and only whale of the day.

Whales 074a copy

 

It was a juvenile humpback. Our Naturalist estimated it was the calves’s first year without its mother.  A sighting of such a young animal is rare according to the naturalist. Once the more mature whales arrive you don’t see these “yearlings” so often.

Whale's Tail

Our “little guy” was very active. He’d surface, cruise then we’d see him “hump” his back, the tail would start up and then there it was, the fluke indicating he was going into a dive. He’s be gone about 5-6 minutes then do it all again.

Here’s the back

There's the back

There’s the back

He comes the tail

Humpback

Humpback

And there’s the fluke.

There's the Tail

There’s the Tail

What a great day!

 

Thinking about Hawaii

Posted on by

Hi everyone. It’s been a crazy week. I thought I’d have a quiet work week with my main agent on vacation but surprise, surprise. She  created an out of office message telling everyone to contact me! My quiet week turned into  work HELL!

I also found out I am getting another agent because one of the new support people isn’t keeping up.  Transitioning the new agent over starts Monday.

I’ve also been trying to get the release from the bank for my car’s title. Can you believe that when I requested a duplicate so I could donate my old car that the bank never removed the lien!? The car has been paid off for at least 10 years. What a mess!

So in between all this I started researching things to do on Maui HI. I know that trip is quite a way in the future but it was relaxing to poke around for things to do. Of course the number 1 thing I want to do is Whale Watch. The season is November to May so it will be early in the season (November) but we can hope there will be some action.

humpback_breach

The number 2 thing is “The Road to Hana”. Do I drive or tour??? If I drive we can stop where we want , when we want but I won’t be able to enjoy the scenery while I’m driving. If we tour we give up control but I can see everything. Maybe I should do it twice, once as a tour and once as a drive. Anyone who has been there and done that? Any suggestions?

photo_road_to_hana_aerial

The number 3 thing on my list is snorkeling at Molokini, a crescent shaped crater that is the premier spot for snorkeling, snuba and scuba. That’s as far as I’ve had time to get.

molokini-medium

snorkel

I know a big attraction is sunrise on Haleakala. I’ve read a lot about that. One article even said the best day to get up for the sunrise is your first day on Maui because you won’t be on Hawaii time yet.

Haleakala

Right now I’m just working up my rough to-do list. We have almost 2 weeks there, 11 days so there’s lots of time to fill. I hear the Maui Ocean Center Aquarium is another must-do.

Hawaii-0802

I’m sure you will see many more posts as I get this trip sorted out. Any thoughts or suggestions?