Whale & Wildlife Report | April 2-8, 2023
Highlights
Short-finned pilot whales
Humpback whales
Oceanic whitetip sharks
Bottlenose dolphins
Pantropical spotted dolphins
Hawaiian spinner dolphins
Reef manta rays
Whale & Wildlife Report | April 2-8, 2023
Calm conditions and lots of whales and wildlife this week! We enjoyed encounters with pilot whales, humpbacks, oceanic whitetip sharks, bottlenose dolphins, Pantropical spotted dolphins, and Hawaiian spinner dolphins! With our dolphin and whale watching trips running daily, we’re excited to encounter more pelagic species this spring and summer seasons. Year-round whale watching makes Kona the ultimate destination for whale and marine mammal enthusiasts! Every day is different on the water and the variety of species we may encounter is vast. We’re excited to highlight Kona’s pelagic life on our trips and share the excitement of year-round whale watching with our guests!
Our dolphin and whale watching trips encountered a number of short-finned pilot whales this past week. Pilot whales are one of the more frequently sighted toothed whales in Kona’s waters. Just offshore we spotted groups of these whales socializing and spending a good amount of time at the surface! NOAA estimates that around 9000 pilot whales inhabit the waters of Hawaii, so it’s not uncommon to spot this species year-round. Shoutout to one of our guests who was both a whale and an avid shark enthusiast….we did spot a few oceanic whitetip sharks trailing behind a pod of pilots this week!
Although humpback migration season in Hawaii has for the most part concluded, we spotted a mom, calf, and escort trio during one of our trips this week! The group was surface active and also interacting with a pod of bottlenose dolphins. It was great to see these individuals still in the area, and we expect that they will start their migration across the Pacific soon.
Bottlenose dolphins weren't the only dolphins we encountered this week! The Kona Coast is home to a number of species of dolphins and we often see bottlenose, spotted dolphins, and Hawaiian Spinner dolphins. We saw all of these this week and during one of our trips witnessed the three species interacting together!
We had some great manta ray encounters during our night manta trips! The northern site at Garden Eel Cove was a hotspot for activity this week. We saw over 15 mantas on one of our trips and recognized some familiar faces! With great visibility, we saw lots of plankton aggregation under our board, and guests enjoyed some close barrel rolls and passes from the mantas. We even had a few double rolls with multiple mantas swooping under the board at once! We love sharing the magic of the Kona’s resident rays with our guests, and amazing encounters like ours this week reaffirm why this is arguably one of the coolest experiences you can have on the Big Island of Hawaii!
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