Aloha,
Wednesday was a windy day…and of course we’re not sure if it was the weather, but the Humpbacks sure were excited. Guests on our Wake up with the Whales Cruise met a competitive pod at the very beginning of the cruise. This pod charged right up to us…and trumpeted by and around us. We saw lots of tail lobs and even a couple of breaches.
On our 10:00 Cruise from Kawaihae, we also saw a competitive pod…but it was comprised of different Humpbacks than the ones we saw outside of Anaeho’omalu Bay. There were 5 whales in this pod, and they barreled across the ocean all around us…changing directions multiple times. We got to see lots of head lifts and lunges, chin slaps, and whales shoving other whales around. We also got mugged by one Humpback who was hanging out just 20 feet from our boat, clearly looking up at all of us.
Mahalo,
Claire
Captain Claire’s Humpback Fact of the Day: Not all whaling activity occurred during the “golden age of whaling” at the beginning of the 19th century. Based on catch records corrected for illegal Soviet whaling, a total of more than 200,000 Humpback Whales were killed in the Southern Hemisphere from 1904 to 1980. Also, Illegal Soviet takes of 25,000 Humpback Whales in two seasons (1959/60 and 1960/61) precipitated a population crash and the closure of land stations in Australia and New Zealand.