Aloha,
You can sure tell it’s the middle of January here…the temperatures on land are in the low 80’s, the sun is shining, and the Humpbacks are all over the place.
Guests on both of our Guaranteed Whale Watch Cruises on Monday got to see 10 different Humpbacks, and on both trips we got to witness a competitive pod in chase mode (for more on competitive pods, see today’s Fact of the Day). During our Wake Up with the Whales Cruise we were approached within about 15 feet as the whales churned past us. We also got to see some breaching in the distance, but we were way too invested in watching those close-by whales chasing each other to head out to sea to see the breacher.
During our Late Morning Whale Watch Cruise, we spotted heavy breathing/spouting from a different competitive pod. Again, all that chasing and posturing between the whales meant that they got out of breath pretty easily, so they couldn’t stay underwater very long. We saw lots of quick, shallow dives, and lots and lots of forceful surface exhalations from the pod as they cruised down the coastline about 3 miles from shore. Again, we saw other whales breaching, but they were in the distance and our attention was focused on the competition taking place 100 yards from us.
Mahalo,
Claire
Ocean Sports Whale Fact of the Day: When we watch a competitive pod of whales, we assume it is comprised of one female either leading or being chased by a group of males. It often appears that every male is competing with every other male for access to the female (although some researchers have observed that male humpbacks may form coalitions, working together to corral the female so that one may have easier access to her). Regardless of how easy the “access” to the female becomes, recently researchers conducting a genetic paternity study on the South Pacific Humpbacks found that as few as 7% of male Humpbacks have actually succeeded in fathering a calf. So, all that chasing around we witnessed today may have been for nothing!