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| We went to Maui to see Humpback Whales |
I am not sure, but I think it means lots of photos and not much background except details about this specific trip.
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| Lots of images |
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| Lots of Whales means lots of Whale watching trips |
Some come for a brief stay to mate before returning to Alaska, where they spend their summers.
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| It's a long trip, but it's worth it |
Some come to give birth and stay for about six weeks until their calves are big enough and strong enough to migrate north.
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| Mom with her new calf |
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| Really good stuff |
While they are in Maui, their behaviors are very specific to mating, giving birth and educating their youngsters. So, you don’t see the feeding behaviors you would see in the summer in Alaska or Boston. You will see lots of acrobatics, including the ultimate Whale show: breaching. And, I can tell you, this trip had the best breaching I have ever seen.
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| Many could also be seen from shore (there is a highway right behind this Whale) |
This Visit
So why did we return? Because, as I said, the Whales are abundant and active and we were needing some good wildlife to shoot (photographically). The peak of Whale season in Maui is Valentine’s Day. This time, we were there February 10-16.
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| A good way to celebrate Valentine's Day |
This is the same time I was there back in 2019. The Whales were phenomenal then. But, this time was, without a doubt, the absolute best.
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| Does it get better than this? |
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| The goal is to catch the progression |
Plus, we saw several competition pods ...
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| We saw this competition pod from land and later encountered it on a Whale watch |
... and troubling event with a happy ending.
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| We'll get to this later |
It turns out that we had a 14-hour layover in Dallas, so we spent the night in a Comfort Inn in Grapevine. I booked it because of its proximity to restaurants (that was good, we had a great late dinner at Fireside Pies) and because it had an airport shuttle.
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| Why I picked it |
I was surprised that many “airport” hotels didn’t offer shuttles. I think it’s a COVID thing.
Anyway, I called the hotel prior to departure to find out how to catch a shuttle upon arrival and they informed me that it stopped running at 3:00 p.m.! So, we ended up paying for an Uber. Next time I will pre-confirm shuttle service.
When we arrived at the hotel I asked the (very surly) front desk clerk how to get the 7:00 a.m. shuttle in the morning and she signed me up. The next morning, when we were waiting, I checked with the front desk and they said we were signed up for 7:30! JEEZ, how hard is this? They took us at 7:00, so it wasn’t an issue. Just an annoyance.
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| Simple and easy |
When we checked in to Terminal A at DFW where our flight was scheduled, the gate agent informed us that we had to go to Terminal D to get our QR codes scanned and get a wristband to simplify arrival in Maui. American, why not tell us to check in at Terminal D?
Luckily we were plenty early and, ever though we had to stand in line for about 30 minutes to get scanned, we were fine. You can also do the scanning in Maui, but this made arrival easier.
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| This one, I enjoyed |
I watched two movies after my book ran out of juice: CODA (predictable but very good) and A Mouthful of Air (predictable, tragic and infuriating).
When we arrived, the trolly to the rental cars was experiencing some kind of emergency (fire engine, first responders, etc.), so we walked to the rental car building. It’s not far, but schlepping luggage uphill in Hawai’i humidity isn’t fun. We rented from Budget because, unlike Thrifty, they don’t charge extra for both spouses to drive the car. The car was pretty beat up, but as long as they don’t try to blame the dings and scratches on me, I am OK with it. It also sounded like it had a bad ball bearing. But, it was a car with relatively good gas mileage. Important when gas is $4.75 a gallon!
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| Photo: Booking.com |
I booked on Booking.com and didn’t realize until I had it set up that it was the same property company as the Aston Kaanapali Shores, where Scott and I stayed last time.
We choose Kihei because it’s close to Maalaea Harbor, our preferred place for Whale watches and boat trips. As it turned out, we took five boat trips: four Whale watching and one snorkeling; three were out of Lahaina. Still, we like Kihei for access to Maalaea, the airport, Haleakalā and the north coast.
I thought I photographed our condo, but I guess I didn’t (I had a few issues with the card in my wide-angle camera and I think the four photos that got corrupted may have included photos of our room).
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| Photo: Booking.com |
Anyway, it was pleasant and comfortable with a living room, full kitchen (we didn’t use it as much as I would have had I been on my own, but it was good for breakfast, keeping picnic supplies, always having handy ice and eating leftovers), a tiny bathroom and (hallelujah!) a washer/dryer. Whenever you are visiting a beach destination, a washer/dryer is great.
Exploring
We arrived early enough to do some exploring, including stopping at Big Beach ...
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| First night sunset |
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| Humpbacks seen from shore |
Yep, they were out there.
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| Photo: Scott Stevens |
Although this wasn’t a birding trip, I hoped to find some new birds. I did photograph birds in several locations, including here. I will cover them all in one place a little later. We didn't spend a lot of time at Big Beach, just enough for Scott to do some of his signature low-angle wide shots and to get into an Hawai'i mood.
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| Photo: Scott Stevens |
As I mentioned we went on four Whale watches: three with the Pacific Whale Foundation, which we like because it’s a non-profit that does valuable research and preservation programs; because it has knowledgeable and engaging crew members and naturalists; and because many of its trips leave from the very nice and easy-to-park-at Maalaea Harbor.
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| The Sunset cruise was out of Maalaea |
However, I also wanted to go on a zodiac Whale watch for potentially up-close-and-personal exposure to Whales. Since PacWhale doesn’t do zodiac trips, we went with Ultimate Whale Watch & Snorkel, the same company Caty and I had gone out with in 2019.
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| More on the zodiac trip in my next blog |
Scott grumbled about it beforehand, saying he didn’t want me to book a zodiac trip because cameras could get wet, etc., etc. I booked it anyway and after our fabulous trip, he declared that’s the ONLY way he want to go in the future.
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| You can get very close |
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| Ironically my best close-up shots were not from the zodiac |
I also wanted to snorkel, including taking at least one organized trip. I will talk about that later.
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| Scott's snorkel selfie |
Plus, we ended up taking a very quick drive on the “Road to Hāna,” going up Haleakalā twice, going to the Iao Valley and generally exploring the island in the scant time we had that was not on a boat.
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| When you're not on the water, you are often looking at the water |
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| Maui sunset |
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| Lāna'i |
So, let’s take a look at our adventures.
Pacific Whale Foundation Whale Watches
We went on three trips with PacWhale: a 9:00 a.m. two-hour “Classic” trip out of Maalaea, a 7:00 a.m. three-hour “Ultimate” trip (not to be confused with the separate company named “Ultimate Whale Watch & Snorkel”) out of Lahaina and a 4:30 p.m. two-hour sunset trip with Will out of Maalaea. Whales tend to be less active mid-day, so we avoided the 11:00 a.m. trips.
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| Action was not a problem |
Many companies (including PacWhale) offer dinner and lunch trips. But, quite frankly, I avoid them because who wants to be eating when a Whale decides to start breaching?
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| Eat or photograph? Easy decision |
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| A nice dive |
The Classic and Sunset trips were on sizeable boats with ample deck space and lots of indoor seating (I just stash my gear there). The Ultimate trip was on a much smaller boat with almost exclusive outside seating. It was a bit more difficult to get around to get good vantage points for close-up activity. But, it was a nice boat.
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| Very close |
Before I talk about the Whales, a brief note about what I shoot. Yeah, I am that person with cameras hanging all over me. For most of the Whales, I use my Canon 90D DSLR with my Tamron 150-600mm lens. It’s great for distant Whales, but when I use single a single focal point it means either a great shot or one completely out of focus.
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| Sometimes you get an out-of-focus foreground (which can look cool) |
I shoot with shutter speed priority and cap my ISO at 800. Most of these pictures were in bright sunlight, so ISO and grain were not an issue.
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| A close-up Whale with an unusual scar |
Depth of field can be an issue, but with such a long lens, it’s almost impossible to increase it. I sometimes shoot with multiple focal points, but haven’t yet figured out which works best.
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| Zeroing in avoid background dustraction |
Of course, with a telephoto lens, it’s harder to actually get the Whale in the frame – especially on a moving boat. Yeah, the cell phone people always get the shot, but the shot is a tiny blip on a wide ocean. At least when I score, I score big.
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| A lot of detail you don't normally see |
In the past, I have been on deck with exclusively my long lens, only to have to scramble down the stairs to the cabin to get my wide-angle camera out of the bag to capture Dolphins swimming right by the boat.
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| Close-up Spinner Dolphins |
So, now, I also carry my Canon Mark II 5D with a 28-300mm lens. That way, I can photograph scenery and close-up Whales. It paid off this time.
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| So close, you can see the pectoral fin under the water |
One more thing that I should mention: the law prohibits anyone (including tour boats) from approaching a Whale closer than 100 yards. So, you can expect most Whales to be farther than that. But, Whales have no rules about what they can do.
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| These two are far and farther |
If a Whale approaches closer than 100 yards (and they do) and the boat cannot safely move away, the boat must stay still until the Whale leaves. The tour operators refer to this as a “mugging.” We were mugged a couple of times.
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| Mother and child muggers |
So, what did we see?
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| We saw lots of things we don't normally see (this is a Whale's rostrum) |
We saw lots and lots and lots of Humpback Whales. I have already written quite a bit about these magnificent creatures, so if you don’t know much about Humpback Whales, click here. All three trips provided ample opportunities to photograph breaches …
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| This is what you go for |
... dives (although Maui Whales don’t do as many deep dives as summer Whales because #1 they aren’t feeding and #2 they bay isn’t that deep) ...
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| A nice dive |
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| A vigorous slap |
... and, competition pods …
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| A great opportunity to actually see Whales |
I wrote about competition pods in 2019. A competition pod is defined as a “group of surface-active Whales, which consists of one adult female that is being pursued by a group of males.”
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| This is a calf and a male |
The number of Whales in a competition pod varies, from as few as three to very large pods with 20 or more animals.
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| The pods we saw were relatively small |
It is assumed that the males are seeking to mate, but in many cases the pursued female has a calf and will likely not mate that year.
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| A rare calm moment |
The behaviors make for great photos. This is where you see Whales raising their heads (rostrums) out of the water, so you can actually see what they look like.
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| A good profile shot |
Often, instead of the traditional humped over swimming behaviors (and source of the name “Humpback”), the males swim straight, exposing almost the full length of their bodies.
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| A rare view |
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| Surfacing and splashing |
One we saw rolled over and floated on his back for awhile.
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| Chillin' or showing off? |
And, once, something exciting happened underwater. We couldn’t see what, but it created some big splashes.
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| What was happening here? |
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| The fluke signals a dive, which means that the show is over |
When females have calves, they are often found in the company of one male, known as an “escort.” Is he hoping to mate or simply being chivalrous by offering protection and security for the newborn? Scientists don’t know. There have been documented cases of a female without a calf serving as an escort as well, so this may just be a behavior designed to protect the species.
We saw quite a few mothers with calves ...
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| This is a little one |
Often, they had with escorts.
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| Female and escort |
In addition to the show-off activities of males, you also often see mothers and calves breaching, tail slapping and fin slapping.
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| A baby exercising |
It is thought that this is basically “exercise time” designed to strengthen the baby for its arduous swim north to Alaska in the early spring.
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| This looks like a calf |
As I mentioned, we saw more breaching on this trip than ever before.
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| It just kept happening |
Breaching is when a Whale lifts its body and leaps out of the water, exposing up to 90 percent of its body above the surface. Humpback Whales weigh between 35 and 50 tons and can reach up to 60 feet long, so this is no small feat.
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| A classic breach |
They use their powerful fluke and the peduncle muscles that operate the fluke to launch themselves out of the water. And while many other whale species breach, Humpback Whales seem to do it more frequently.
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| A nice progression |
Why do they breach?
It could be for one of many reasons:
Fun (it certainly looks as though they are enjoying themselves) …
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| It does look like play |
Teaching their youngsters to breach …
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| I took this photo of a side-by-side mon/baby breach in 2019 |
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| Looking around |
Aiding in digestion (also not relevant in Maui because only calves feed there), like a person going for a walk after eating a big meal ...
Ridding themselves of itchy parasites, including barnacles and small crustaceans called Cyamids or "Whale Lice."
Adult Humpbacks can carry close to 1,000 lbs. of barnacles …
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| Both of these Whales have prodigious amounts of barnacles |
Barnacles tend to cluster on the Whale's chin, flippers, tails and bellies. Cyamids tend to congregate on rough or folded regions of the Whale's skin and feed directly on the whale's skin tissues.
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| Lots of chin parasites (do Whales have chins?) |
But, the current leading theory from scientists is that Humpbacks breach and slap their fins and flukes on the surface as a way of communicating. It is believed that slapping sounds send messages to other Whales and the big splashes are for sending messages long distances.
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| This is loud |
Sound travels further and more rapidly underwater than it does on land and could possibly communicate to distant Whales.
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| What is he trying to say? |
Breaches vary. Some are straight up and down into a belly-flop …
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| Just up and down |
Some include a twist ...
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| Jump and roll |
Some are a back flop …
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| This seems most common |
And, some are a sideways launch-and-land ...
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| This is a full breach (almost all the way out of the water) |
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| When they are side-by-side, you can tell which is grown and which isn't |
Baby Humpbacks look pretty much just like adults, but are 40-60 percent smaller. And, of course, they have fewer scars and parasites.
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| Looks like another calf |
In addition to breaching, we also some spy-hopping, including one huge Whale that spent a lot of time straight out of the water.
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| Very impressive |
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| Right by the shore |
One of the research functions the Pacific Whale Foundation performs is recording and tracking which specific Whales come to Maui.
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| Keeping track of animals that live predominantly underwater can be tough |
How do they do it? Well, Humpback Whales have unique individual patterns on their flukes ranging from all black to almost all white.
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| A dark fluke |
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| Scars can come from predator (Orca) attacks, parasites or brushes with boats or fishing gear |
PacWhale asks all participants to send in any photos of flukes to help them with the work. Here are the flukes I sent from the three Pac Whale trips we took.
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| Variety |
Spinner Dolphins
During my first few Whale watches I was surprised that we saw no Dolphins. On past trips, I had seen both Pacific Bottlenose and Spinner Dolphins. Well, as we were returning to the harbor from our PacWhale Ultimate trip, we encountered a pod of Spinners swimming around some other boats very, very close to shore.
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| Finally, some Dolphins! |
We stopped briefly to watch them, witnessing a couple of their signature spins …
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| Taking a spin |
Here’s video that Scott took ...
We also watched one approach and boop a coconut floating in the water …
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| Playing with a coconut |
Our naturalist said he saw a baby Humpback playing with a coconut a few days earlier.
When doing a little research on Spinners, I discovered that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) had just enacted new restrictions to protect these nocturnal animals because human interaction may be disturbing their sleep.
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It's hard to believe they are nocturnal |
The new rules are designed to respect Spinner Dolphins' space so they can rest undisturbed in their habitats close to shore. NOAA stipulates:
- No swimming with, approaching or remaining within 50 yards of Spinner Dolphins. This applies to vessels and people, including boats, canoes, stand-up paddleboards and drones.
- No approach by "interception," which means purposefully blocking the path of a Spinner Dolphin to force it to approach within 50 yards. There are exceptions:
- People who inadvertently come within 50 yards of or are approached by a Spinner Dolphin, provided they do not engage or pursue and that they take immediate steps to move away.
- Vessels that are underway and approached by a Spinner Dolphin, provided they continue normal navigation and make no effort to engage or pursue. Since Spinners are famous for riding the wake, this might be tricky.
- When a 50-yard distance will not allow the vessel to maintain safe navigation.
- Vessel operations necessary to avoid imminent and serious danger (such as an evacuation).
- Vessels that are anchored or aground and approached by a Spinner Dolphin, provided the vessel makes no effort to engage or pursue.
- People or vessels conducting NOAA-authorized activities.
- Government vessels and/or personnel conducting official duties.
- Commercial fishing vessels that incidentally "take" a Spinner Dolphin during normal fishing operations, provided they are operating legally.
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| The rules protect the species |
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| Spinners have very long rostrums |
NOAA is also proposing to establish time closures to reduce disturbance in five nearshore areas designated as essential daytime habitats for Spinner Dolphins. This regulation would prohibit entering restricted areas between 6:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. daily in four areas off the Big Island and La Perouse Bay on Maui. This would not affect the typical Whale watch route.
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| It's hard to believe that these guys could lose energy |
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| These are pod animals |
This energy expenditure diminishes hunting prowess and the ability to nurture their young. Leaving their preferred resting habitat can lead to a greater risk of predation.
Learn about Spinners here.
Wow! I sure write a lot for someone with nothing new to say.
But, I still have more to share. So, I’ll cover that in my next post.
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| I do love Maui |
Trip date: February 9-17, 2022
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