We embarked on the Ocean Explorer just before 4 pm. This is the smallest of Pacific Whale Foundation's fleet, and there was a bit of a swell on. You needed sea legs for this one, thought we weren't getting tossed.
We soon found ourselves surrounded. There were several competition pods, and the one we followed was fierce. I suspect that competition pods are so focused on the bar brawl (as our guide put it) that they hardly notice boats following them around. Our pod was following a mom with a week-old baby (merely the size of a pickup truck).
Humpback whales are classified as an endangered species, and there are several protections for them. One rule is to stay at least 100 yards away. Of course, the whales don't know this, so they might come closer than that to the boat. When they do, another rule comes into play: cut your motor. This is called "getting mugged by a whale." We got mugged. Two males swam under the boat and blew bubbles that surfaced right below us. Then one of them hung out just below the surface:
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| The light blotches are the whale just below the surface. |
The following photos are of a baby whale we found on the way back to Lahaina. It was practicing tale slaps.
We were greeted by a Hawaiian monk seal (also endangered) as we cruised back into Lahaina harbor, proving the adventure never ends.
Here's our boat:
By the time we got home it was nearly dark. Here's all I could catch of the last light:
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