Whale & Wildlife Report | November 19-25, 2022
Highlights
Blainville’s beaked whales
Tiger sharks
Short-finned pilot whales
Sea turtles
Reef manta rays
Hawaiian spinner dolphins
Bottlenose dolphins
Oceanic whitetip sharks
Whale & Wildlife Report | November 19-25, 2022
Some days wildlife is more elusive than others, but not this week! Guests aboard our morning private charter on Those Guys were positively spoiled by the ocean. The excitement started with bottlenose dolphin sightings near the Kampachi fish pens, followed by an encounter with one of our resident blackfish species: pilot whales! Six to nine of these cetaceans were making their way north when we encountered them, but we kept the encounter short as we had our eyes set on the more favorable conditions to the south. We continued towards Keauhou where we snorkeled with a graceful manta ray, followed by boat-based viewing of spinner dolphins and one of the first humpback whales of the winter season! As if that wasn’t special enough, we were also treated to barracuda sightings at our second snorkel destination, followed by sightings of both sea turtles and a tiger shark on our cruise back into the harbor!
Those weren’t the only highlights of the week! On Monday, our crew introduced a young family to the beauty of Kealakekua Bay. They were treated to some truly incredible visibility on their reef snorkel, followed by multiple spinner dolphin sightings along the coast. While the wildlife encounters were exciting, the highlight for the kids seemed to be riding through the waves on the bow of Callisto, every cresting wave mimicking the sensation of butterflies in their bellies.
Our dolphin and whale search on November 19th encountered the elusive Blainville’s beaked whale, a truly special sighting. They also lucked into a large pod of spinner dolphins, amongst which was a new calf no bigger than a football. In the words of our crew Kelsi, “So cute!”. This was followed by an encounter of resting white-tip sharks at our snorkel sight, and sea turtle sightings in the marina!
Our crew will be back on the water this Monday, after a much-deserved holiday break spent with friends and family. We’re excited to see what encounters the ocean has in store!
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