Mom and Baby Breach Together – Image courtesy of Captain Ryan.
Aloha,
There was lots going on at sea this past weekend. Here are a few highlights:
- Guests joining us on Friday’s Wake up with the Whales Cruise saw lots of spouts in every direction. We went over to investigate what we thought was a Mom/Baby pair but it turned out to be two adults…while we were watching them, we were completely surprised by a big Humpback who surfaced and spouted right at our stern. We also got to listen to some great whale songs through the hydrophone.
- While waiting for the sun to set on Friday’s Whales & Cocktails at Sunset Cruise we spent some quality time with Mom whale, her Baby and their Escort. They weren’t doing anything particularly acrobatic, but we always enjoy watching the interactions between a Mom/Baby/Escort threesome.
- During Saturday’s Wake up with the Whales Cruise, it felt as if we were in the middle of a Humpback Convention. There were just so many whales in our area…and they weren’t just spouting and sounding. We watched a Mom/Calf/Escort pod breach continuously for 35 minutes (see the photo above for just a glimpse of the action). We also got to hear some incredibly loud singing — we didn’t even need to deploy the hydrophone — the singers were so close to us that the songs were reverberating through our hulls.
- We operated two more cruises on Seasmoke on Saturday. Guests on our Snorkel and Whale Watch Adventure Cruise saw Humpbacks before and after snorkeling. On the way to the site, we were surprised when a duo of whales surfaced, spouted and sounded right at our stern. On the way back from the snorkel site, we watched two whales veer over to our idling boat, crossing right in front of the bow. And guests on our Private Cruise watched a Humpback tail lobbing repetitively, followed by his buddy doing several peduncle throws. After they exhausted themselves on the surface, the pair came over to the boat, and circled us before sounding.
- Highlights of our Sunday morning Wake up with the Whales Cruise include sightings of a Mom/Baby/Escort pod, and getting to watch a different pod of 2 Humpbacks cross right in front of our bow. Once again, we heard great sounds through the hydrophone.
- Sunday’s Mid-Morning Whale Watch Cruise began with a pod of Spinner Dolphins. After watching them for awhile, and then listening to some great whale songs, we cruised around looking at spouting whales. On our way back to the harbor, we were completely surprised when a whale breached just 40 yards from us creating a HUGE splash.
Mahalo,
Claire
Ocean Sports Whale 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.