Aloha,
The weather and ocean calmed down on Wednesday, and guests joining us on our Wake up With the Whales Cruise got to see at least 15 different Humpbacks. Highlights included a competitive pod of 5 whales, lots of pec slaps and even more tail lobs. We also got an opportunity to deploy our hydrophone and heard some pretty loud singing. Guests joining us on the 10:00 Cruise also got to see 15 – 20 different Humpbacks. The whales were active during this cruise too, and we saw some pec slaps and tail lobs, and lots of leisurely surface swimming. But what was most exciting for us was while the boat was stopped and we were waiting for a couple of whales about 100 yards from us to surface, a whale we didn’t even know was there breached just 100 feet off our stern. And then, as if in response, we saw more breaches from other whales a bit further away.
Mahalo,
Claire
Captain Claire’s Humpback Fact of the Day: A Humpback Whale doesn’t reach sexual maturity till it’s about 35 feet long (age 5 or 6 for females, and a little bit later for males). Researchers have observed that most Humpbacks in the North Pacific don’t begin calving successfully till they’re at least 10 years old – the mean average is 11.8 years. In the North Atlantic, Humpbacks generally give birth for the first time between ages 5 and 7, reaching sexual maturity earlier too.