March 1-5 – Near Kihei, Maui
We came to Maui to see the humpback whales. So here is our record so far:
- We saw them from the beach on our first day – along with dolphins.
- We were part of the ‘official’annual volunteer count the first weekend and saw almost three dozen through our binoculars and recorded all their behavior.
- We then took our our binoculars at every opportunity. While we were on the beach snorkeling – found them. While taking a surfing lesson – yep, right there. Go out to the viewpoint – found them again.
- We went paddling in a traditional 6 person canoe – and several breached right in front of us. One canoe even got wet from the splash! See if this link works:
- Then we went on a very early morning whale watching boat and caught up with an all-male “competition group’ of whales that were tail slapping, head butting, and other typical male behavior. All that was missing was them hanging out with a beer in their man cave. I got to try out my new telephoto camera we purchased just for this occasion.
– This morning, we even went to an hour long “45 Ton Talk” at the Humpack Whale Marine Sanctuary visitor’s center. Saw some great videos of Humpack whales feeding in Alaska – basically they surround krill by making bubbles and then open their mouths incredibly wide (think of a basketball hoop that is the size of the whole court) and then strain out the water through their baileen mouths. Pretty amazing. We also watched videos of whales giving birth, getting untangled from fishing nets, and how drones are used to track them. The best news is that after Humpack whales received protection in the 1970’s they have increased their population from about 1,200 whales to now over 22,000. A great success for conservation.
– Then, we even did whale impersonations. Last night at the pool, Siri and I made friends with Emily – a precocious 7-year old girl from the midwest. She told us her favorite animal is the Turtle and showed us how they swim – nice and slow movements under the water and then a head pokes up for air. We all enjoyed her very good impersonation (as were all the other adults sitting around the pool). Then she did an amazing impersonation of a humpback whale breaching – she jumped out of the water with her hands by her side and then just slapped sideways back into the water. (there were a few laughs from the audience and her parents) Of course Emily asked us to join in and Siri volunteered me to show my best whale impersonation. I took it seriously. I got low in the pool and jumped straight up (with my fins/hands by side) and flopped right over back onto the water – creating quite the splash for the spectators – but more importantly laughter from everyone, mainly Siri. Siri is now wanting to re-create this moment and get a video. We will see if it makes it into a future blog post. 🙂
So I think we have done a lot of whale stuff so far. We always have our binoculars with us while walking the beach and take them out while lounging in our beach chairs whenever possible. Sometimes we see them and other times they all seem to have left – even though we know there are hundreds just below the surface we can’t see.
Oh, just because we can’t seem to get enough of these magnificent creatures we booked a second whale watching tour in two days – on a different boat and just before sunset. We’ll be sure to share all that we find.
Finally, we might have gotten the bug a bit too much since we are already are contemplating coming back next year and staying longer – to see (and count!) even more whales.
And just a few more fun shots!
and one last video of a Tail Slap
Siri and David Adventures 