OnBoard Tours Whales

Tuesday March 20, 2012

Wow! The most active Humpbacks I’ve seen this season! Were they also enjoying the slack water, light breeze, sunshine, shifting clouds, and the first afternoon of spring?

I spotted a mother and calf from the marina before we headed out in Ma’alaea Bay. The calf breached numerous times, while the mom seemed comfortable resting. Then another mom/calf pair with an escort swam very near the first pair. We don’t often see the females or babies socializing physically close, so this was an unusual, short interaction.

Rounding McGregor Point, a very active baby breached countless times while mom was swimming west when a group of males? approached them. The calf kept breaching, kind of lunging halfway out as it tired. The adults seemed to be socializing, breaching, pectoral fin waving, tail flukes in the air, rolling, and touching. Then they headed towards our boat, had the female decided no on the boys? Pectoral fin and fluke water slaps, and aquamarine bubble trails indicated aggressive competition behaviors. The hydrophone picked up the Humpback song! The whales swimming much faster now, we all were going back into the bay, where at least 3 more groups of whales are surfacing!

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