Twisty Dive – Image courtesy of Rodger Berge
Aloha,
You can sure tell it’s January by the sheer number of Humpbacks we’re seeing. Case in point, on Wednesday’s Wake up with the Whales Cruise, we started the day with a breach off in the distance. Before we could go out to investigate, we saw a pod of two adult Humpbacks…and then another pod of two adult Humpbacks…and then another pod of two adult Humpbacks. All three of these pods were in the “relaxed” mode, coming to the surface to breath a few times before sounding. None of them seemed particularly interested in us or our boat, so we respected their wishes and enjoyed their company at the surface when they chose to show themselves. At the very end of the cruise, we got to see the side of the flukes of one of these whales as he did a sort-of twisty dive below.
We aren’t running any cruises on Thursday, so I’ll post my next report when I can!
Mahalo,
Claire
Ocean Sports Whale Fact of the Day: Why don’t diving whales have to clear their ears like we do when we’re diving (or changing altitude in an airplane)? It turns out that whales have pretty rigid Eustachian tubes (those are the tiny tubes that run between your throat and your middle ear). So, unlike what happens to most of us, who have to force air through our collapsible Eustachian tubes to equalize pressure in our ears, the airflow is basically unimpeded for our cetacean friends!