 |
| One of many breaches |
For my birthday - and our 40th anniversary (I know!), Scott took me to Maui in late February/early March! Objective: Whales. And, boy did we see them!
 |
| Two flukes are better than none |
 |
| Scott and his mom in Hawaii |
But, a little background ...
Last year, Scott took his mother to Hawaii. I guess she picked the dates because he was gone for my 60th birthday.
He knows how much I love whale watching, so he decided that we should go for a week during the height of whale season.
In case you don't know, Humpback Whales go to Maui for the winter to mate and calve. There is a huge concentration (1,500+) of females, babies and males. The behaviors seen in Maui are different from what I have seen on whale watches elsewhere because these whales are not eating. There is no food for them there. You might wonder why they would go somewhere with no food. Simple -- with no food, there are few predators, so the newborn calves are much safer.
 |
| A safe spot for these newbies |
In the week we were there, we did some sightseeing, I took two beach walks (we had some rain, so it was a less "beachy" visit than I had planned) and went on five (yes, five) whale watches.
 |
| Our favorite whale watch company |
 |
| A calf breaches as mom dives |
We went with the Pacific Whale Foundation, a nonprofit research organization that studies and protects whales and run whale watches.
We sailed out of Maalaea rather than Lahaina because it is less crowded (and it is where the Pacific Whale Foundation and the Aquarium are located).
We saw an incredible array of whales ....
 |
| Tail-slapping |
Adults ...
 |
| A magnificent fluke |
Babies ...
 |
| A frolicking youngster |
And, a mom and baby tail-and-fin-slapping display ...
 |
| Mama and baby |
... that went on for over 20 minutes ...
 |
| Wow! |
... it was quite something ...
 |
| The sound is impressive, too |
We saw countless breaches, mostly babies....
 |
| All the way out of the water |
 |
| They seemed to be having fun |
... and some fabulous adult breaches ...
 |
| My best-ever series |
 |
| Aftermath |
We saw many mother and calf combos ...
 |
| Look how tiny that baby is |
 |
| Breaching as mom watches |
... and a number of what they call "competition pods," several males courting a female ...
 |
| The big boys |
Plus, we saw more tail-slapping ...
 |
| Impressive |
... even baby tail-slapping ...
 |
| Cute! |
... and fin-slapping ...
 |
| Adult pectoral fins can be 15 feet long |
... and breaching ...
 |
| Up and over |
... and diving ...
 |
| And down |
... repeated over ...
 |
| The activity went on and on |
... and over again ...
 |
| It was fabulous |
ExploringWe did do a few other things, as well. We stopped at a few beaches on the north coast.
 |
| Baldwin Beach on a pretty day |
Although Scott didn't want to drive the Road to Hana (very famous), he took me. After the full day drive, I have to admit that I agree with him. Although the drive is pretty, it has few views because of the vegetation.
 |
| Steep cliffs and blue, blue water |
Of course, the views it does have are great. The famous Sacred Seven Pools at the end of the road are now part of Haleakala National Park. On this particular day, it was hot, humid and dusty and one of the main waterfalls was completely dry. Apparently, that's quite rare, but Maui was in the midst of a drought. The pools did, however, have water, even if the falls were weak.
 |
| One Sacred Pool |
And, I bought a new National Park pass at one of the most remote National Parks in the system.
We explored beaches ...
 |
| A quiet little beach in a residential area |
 |
| A view of Molokini in the distance |
Lava flows ...
 |
| Rugged landscape |
A vodka distillery that makes vodka from ocean water and sugar cane ...
 |
| It's too expensive to process Hawaiian Cane into sugar, but it works for vodka |
... and has spectacular views ...
 |
| Ocean Vodka has a sweet location |
A goat cheese dairy ...
 |
| Very yummy cheese |
The Iao Valley ...
 |
| Stunningly steep mountains |
... with its park honoring Hawaii's history and diverse peoples ...
 |
| The park celebrates multiple cultures |
We didn't go to the Haleakala summit because it was pretty much socked in the whole time, but we've done that before.
It was a great week.
 |
| Thanks, Scott! |
I will happily go back, but next time I want to stay in the condos in the background here:
 |
| You could watch from the balcony ... |
 |
| ... until the sun goes down |
Trip date: February 28-March 5, 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment