Humpbacks, Dolphins, and a Monk Seal

Humpback Whale Sightings and Statistics|January 29, 2023

Aloha,
Since last I posted, we operated a whole bunch of cruises on both Friday and Saturday. As usual, there are way too many details for me to expect you to read, so just in case you’re trying to decide whether to venture out to see the Humpbacks on the Kohala Coast, here are a few highlights so you’ll have something to go from.

On Friday’s Wake up with the Whales Cruise from Anaeho’omalu Bay, we watched a Humpback duo in a “whale fight” just 1/4 mile outside of the bay. We got to see a head lunge from one of them, followed by a breach only 50 yards from the boat. And then our breacher kept coming at us, approaching us within 10 yards before diving.

On Friday’s Snorkel & Whale Watch Adventure Cruise from Anaeho’omalu Bay, we got to see Humpbacks and Spinner Dolphins interacting. We weren’t really sure if these cetacean cousins were playing with each other consensually, or more likely, that the dolphins were playing with the Humpbacks, irritating them. As an aside, once, years ago, I watched a pod of dolphins “dive-bombing” a Humpback. Eventually, the Humpback head-butted one of those dolphins, and the little dolphin went flying…and that’s why I think the Humpbacks are irritated by the dolphins’ interest. Oh, and when we got back to the bay to put the boat on the mooring at the end of the trip, we were met by a Monk Seal who was cruising around our mooring ball!

On Saturday’s Mid-Morning Cruise from Kawaihae, we got to watch a very calm Mom and calf pair for awhile. Since the calf was really small, she couldn’t stay underwater very long, and we got to see a lot of her when she surfaced to breathe. Later in the cruise, we watched a pod of two adult Humpbacks interacting. We didn’t see anything combative going on between the two of them — just lots of diving and surfacing. At the end of the cruise, these two surprised us all by surfacing just 20 yards off our bow before lifting their flukes and disappearing once again.

Mahalo,
Claire

Ocean Sports Whale Fact of the Day: According to research conducted by the Nelson Institute of Marine Research, a Humpback’s heart beats an average of 40bpm, but the whales do experience periods of tachycardia and bradycardia during dives.