Aloha,The Humpbacks were out in full force for our Kalikimaka Morning Wake up with the Whales Cruise. Throughout the course of the cruise, we saw spouts, dorsal fins and flukes from 10 different Humpbacks. The ocean was completely calm, so we took advantage of the conditions and just floated, getting good sightings in pretty much every direction we looked. We even got a chance to deploy the hydrophone, and after listening to some far-away whales for awhile were pleasantly surprised when someone close by began to sing (it was LOUD)!
Mahalo
Claire
Ocean Sports Whale Fact of the Day: All whales, regardless of species, age, or gender make noises. Only Humpback whales sing an organized song…and only male Humpbacks sing. We used to believe that the males only “sing” when they are in the warmer waters where they mate. Now that we’re listening more closely, we have heard the males singing a bit in their colder feeding waters (mostly at the end of feeding season prior to the beginning of the migration). So, is the male Humpback singing a mating song? Researchers have observed that female whales will not approach a singing male, so if the males are singing to bring the females closer to them, it seems to be pretty ineffective.