Whale & Wildlife Report | June 30- July 6, 2024
PC: Andrew Aggergaard
Highlights
Short-finned pilot whales
Beaked whales
Bottlenose dolphins
Hawaiian spinner dolphins
Rough-toothed dolphins
Oceanic white-tip sharks
Sea turtles
Whale & Wildlife Report | June 30- July 6, 2024
Sharing Kona’s unique marine life with our guests is our favorite thing to do. This week we had lots of fellow whale enthusiasts, marine biologists, and photographers on our trips! It was a blast and we couldn’t have asked for better summer conditions on the water. The offshore conditions were great as well, making for some spectacular wildlife-spotting on our dolphin/whale watching tours!
PC: Olivia Miller
Our first whales of the week were some beaked whales outside of Keahou! Our crew briefly spotted them in the distance through binoculars, but they soon took a deeper dive. Beaked whales can dive incredibly deep and Cuvier’s beaked whales can hold their breath the longest out of all whale species! We ventured on and had lots of short-finned pilot whale encounters on our tours. Some individuals were curious about us and circled our bow! We even heard them vocalizing! A much larger pod further offshore had an oceanic white-tip shark that we got some clear looks at. Although we saw one, there are often multiple sharks trailing the pods. Another larger group with a lot of large bulls gave us some great passes, spyhops, and active behavior. More recently we’ve had pilot whales further inshore, and this week one of our trips found a pod of Red Hill. The group was spread out and first, then grouping up and logging at the surface.
PC: Andrew Aggergaard
We often see Hawaiian spinner dolphins near Honokohau Harbor, and we had a few greeting us at the beginning of our tours. We also found a pod downtown right at the pier and spent some nice time with the sleepy group. Their behavior can change on a dime, and a few dolphins surprised us with a couple explosive spins! Inshore off Red Hill we encountered a pod of bottlenose dolphins, the largest species of dolphin that we most often see. Bottlenose dolphins can be over 10 ft long and they are incredibly intelligent. The group we found was moving at a relaxing pace and we enjoyed cruising with them up the coast.
PC: Andrew Aggergaard
Offshore we had another dolphin species, rough-toothed dolphins! Like their name implies, their teeth are rigid. Rough-toothed dolphins appear almost reptilian-like, and some even think they look prehistoric. We have the opportunity to view this species more often than many, but they are still considered rare. The pod we spent time with was about 6 miles offshore and they also had a tiny calf! The calf was adorable and the group was just milling in circles with no real direction to their behavior. We enjoyed viewing this cool species and our guests were equally excited about seeing them!
We hope everyone had a great first week of July, and we are excited to continue our offshore exploration on our year-round dolphin/whale watching adventures!
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