Whale & Wildlife Report | July 14-20, 2024
PC: Andrew Aggergaard
Highlights
Short-finned pilot whales
Hawaiian spinner dolphins
Tropic birds
Reef manta rays
Kealakekua Bay
Sea turtles
Whale & Wildlife Report | July 14-20, 2024
A variety of adventures on the Kona Coast this week. We enjoyed some exciting wildlife encounters and were also reminded that we are searching for wildlife in the wild! Mother Nature and Mother Ocean are in control when it comes to what we see on our tours.
PC: Andrew Aggergaard
We started the week with a memorable private charter. We were honored to be a part of this memorial celebration with so many wonderful guests onboard. We had a nice group of pilot whales offshore of Honokohau Harbor that we were able to spend some time with. We also enjoyed a scenic cruise past downtown, and we took in the beautiful sights of Kealakekua Bay down south. Mahalo to everyone who joined us on this special trip.
PC: Andrew Aggergaard
Our other tours enjoyed a variety of short-finned pilot whale pods. The south end of the coast provided the calmest conditions this week and it’s where we had our highlight encounters. We found a large group of pilot whales near Red Hill and got some great looks at most of the individuals in the pod. At the same time our birder guests pointed out tropic birds dotting the cliff sides. We also enjoyed Hawaiian spinner dolphins outside the harbor! They were very interactive and cruised right along with us for a while. Our guests loved getting up on the bow of Artemis to see them surfing beneath, and others were jumping in and out of our wake!
We had a great night manta snorkel at the northern site at Garden Eel Cove. Getting off the dock a few minutes early, we enjoyed the whole sunset on our cruise to the site! The visibility was amazing and we got clear looks at the reef below. The mantas did a few fly bys and barrel rolls, and we had a finale with nonstop barrel rolling action from two mantas! It was the perfect way to end the trip and everyone had a great time!
PC: Andrew Aggergaard
It’s important to acknowledge that while we do see an amazing array of marine life on the Kona Coast, when and where we have our encounters is variable. Our crew works hard to find as much wildlife as we can on every tour, and this does not go without significant effort! We did have our first fluke trip of the summer where we unfortunately did not get our desired encounters. This is incredibly rare, and although the ocean was not on our side, we always hope our guests will give it another shot! There are so many species that we can potentially see, and every day is unique on the water.
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