Whale & Wildlife Report | November 26 - December 2, 2023
Highlights
Early season humpback whales
Short-finned pilot whales
Beaked whales
Hawaiian spinner dolphins
Bottlenose dolphins
Tiger shark
Whale & Wildlife Report | November 26 - December 2, 2023
The early humpback whales are stealing the show! We were over the moon to see multiple humpbacks on our dolphin and whale-watching trips this week. We spotted a pair of humpbacks inshore, and we had the opportunity to practice our whale patience. The two had long downtimes, but when they surfaced, we got some beautiful looks and they showed their flukes! We found another humpback near the Blue Ocean Mariculture fish pens. The individual popped up while we were watching a group of bottlenose, and we stayed and watched for a few surfacings. Our favorite encounter of the week occurred during a private charter! Our guests dreamed of seeing a humpback whale, and Mother Nature must have heard their wish! We encountered a humpback right outside the harbor and were able to spend over an hour with the individual as it cruised south along the coast. The whale displayed exciting behavior including showing its flukes, tail lobbing, and to top it off a huge breach!! What an awesome start to the humpback season!
We also found some pelagic whales this week during our trips! Offshore, we encountered multiple groups of short-finned pilot whales. The groups were made up of a few individuals, and we got some good looks at the pods socializing and displaying surface activity. North of the harbor, we also found a few beaked whales! They were more elusive and we got just a few looks before they disappeared beneath the waves.
The dolphins were out in force this week as well! Spinners were outside the harbor entrance and a big group was seen off the downtown area. We had some great bottlenose encounters and saw more groups at the fish pens hunting. During one of our encounters, we were surprised by a tiger shark that surfaced right off the bow of the boat. It may have been drawn to the surface from all the surface activity with the dolphins! Mahalo Mother Nature for a fantastic week!
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