Whale & Wildlife Report | November 10-16, 2024
PC: Olivia Miller
Highlights
Humpback whale
Short-finned pilot whales
Hawaiian spinner dolphins
Pantropical spotted dolphins
Bottlenose dolphins
Oceanic white-tip sharks
Yellowfin tuna
Green sea turtle
Whale & Wildlife Report | November 10-16, 2024
A whale of a week on the Kona Coast! We spent time with lots of dolphins, short-finned pilot whales, and a humpback whale on our year-round dolphin and whale watching adventures!
Earlier this week we were cruising offshore when our team spotted a nice sized pod of around 30 short-finned pilot whales. We got some passes and they were curious but definitely in rest mode. They may have been resting before taking a deeper dive to hunt! There were also two energetic oceanic white-tip sharks with them and we got a great look from the bow of Artemis as they swam by.
PC: Olivia Miller
Our highlight whale of the week was of course our early humpback sighting! We were far offshore from the Kealakekua Bay area when our team spotted a few blows. We expected it to be one of Kona’s year-round species, but we were happily surprised to find it was a subadult humpback! The individual transitioned from longer down times to shorter intervals which allowed us some fantastic looks and photo opportunities. After getting a fluke shot, Naturalist Olivia was able to ID the whale as “HW-MN0442595” with the help of Happywhale. This individual was first spotted off the coast of Lahaina, Maui on Dec 12th 2022! It was awesome to watch a humpback whale so far offshore, and even more exciting to see lots of yellowfin tuna jumping all around the area during our encounter!
PC: Olivia Miller
In deeper waters we spent time with a big pod of Pantropical spotted dolphins just south of one of the FADs. They were pretty spread out but we got some cool surfing and bow riding action while we were cruising. There was all kinds of activity surrounding the dolphins including lots of shearwaters! Inshore we found a pair of bottlenose dolphins and another larger pod. The pair was riding our bow, and the group went wild jumping out of the waves behind us! One jump in particular created a massive splash one of our passengers won’t soon forget.
PC: Olivia Miller
When searching a shallower area we also came across a nice pod of Hawaiian spinner dolphins. Although we often see this species outside the harbor, we can find them all along the Kona Coast. They were especially active and it was so fun to watch tiny calves jumping and spinning in the air! We sat and watched as they played alongside us before going back into a rest mode. Our final trip of the week rounded out our encounters with a green sea turtle sunning on the rocks in the harbor!
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