Humpback Whales 101

How about a little Humpback whale 101? These are such amazing creatures! How cool that I was able to catch these pictures from my room? This little guy was probably a calf, he wasn't that big. You could also see his mom close by and she was huge, enjoy!

Pec Slap

The humpback's pectoral fin is longer than that of all other species of whales, measuring one-third the whale's body length, or approximately twelve to fifteen feet. Humpbacks will often roll onto their side or back and slowly slap the water's surface with one fin or both fins simultaneously. The slapping of fins may serve as a communication signal to other whales.


Tail Slap

A tail slap consists of a whale raising its tail flukes out of water and slapping them forcefully on the surface of the water. When the flukes hit the water, a loud resonant noise can be heard for miles. Humpback whales are known to repeat this behavior over and over. This behavior may serve as a warning to others in the vicinity.


Fun dolphin pics

I say that dolphins jump in the air because they can and because it's fun! This guy was motoring all over the place. He'd pop up on one side of the beach, then a few hundred yards away and then back over to the other side, what fun!

Maui humpback whales are here!

So I get up this morning and walk out onto the balcony to look at the ocean and there was this awesome rainbow out over the water... but this one was different. It was spread out over the ocean like fog, pretty cool, never saw a rainbow like this before. Anyway, as I was watching the rain over the ocean clear up, I saw a few humpback whales swimming by! Now this was way cool!

I've been on whale watching cruises before and they say that in order to spot one, you have to look out for the spouts over the horizon, so sure enough, here they are spraying all over the place. People have told me that the whales just got into town and that I should be able to see them pretty easily. Hopefully I'll get a picture of one breaching, how cool would that be?