If I Were Going...: Maui #2 More Sea Creatures

A Humpback Whale in Maui

You would think with all the Whale photos I posted in the last installment, I'd be done. But, there's more.

Entanglement

Before I move on to our zodiac Whale watch, I need to cover an event we witnessed on the PacWhale Ultimate Whale Watch. We came upon several boats, including two commercial Whale watching boats, a zodiac and a small NOAA research boat, monitoring a female Humpback Whale that was entangled in fishing nets.

She was first spotted on two days earlier, I guess they hadn't been able to reach or keep track of her.

The Trilogy V (in the background) reported it first

I saw the net, but failed to get a photo (it was one of those times that moving around the small boat was tough), but Scott got one.

Entangled Whale; Photo: Scott Stevens

When we saw it with our eyes, we couldn't figure out how the net was attached, but when I looked at my photos, I saw that she had a rope wrapped around her in front of her pectoral fins. It didn't seem to be inhibiting her movement, but being entangled can be fatal.

I can't believe I didn't see this at the moment

She had a calf with her, making the situation even more serious.

The calf made the issue more urgent

She was also accompanied by a male escort.

The group

The NOAA boat deployed a drone and began photographing the Whale as they spoke with the disentanglement team.

The drone is in the background

Collecting valuable data

The Whales seemed to know where help was coming from. They approached the NOAA boat, getting close enough that the guy with the underwater camera could have touched them. Later, I learned that, although not impeding her, the rope had already led to some scarring.

When a boat encounters an entangled Whale, it must stay close and keep track of the Whale's movements until a disentanglement team arrives.

The other boat monitoring the Whale

Since we weren't first on scene, we didn't have to stay, but we did watch for awhile. I would have loved to stay and watch NOAA free her, which they did by the end of the day.

The disentanglement team; Photo: NOAA

It took them six hours. Here is video of it happening. According to NOAA, the mother Humpback Whale was freed of more than 550 feet of line and marine debris. There were a dozen different types of lines and netting contributing to the entanglement, including 30 feet of thick line estimated at greater than 1.5 inches in diameter.

The Whale before rescue; Drone photo: University of Hawai'i Manoa

Unfortunately, after it was cut free, the gear sank out of reach and couldn't be recovered, but responders were "able to obtain critical documentation to determine its possible origins." They like to nab the debris to prevent another entanglement.

Once Mom was freed, they said they observed the calf "tucking under the mother's chin," a sign of "resting behavior."

The calf is under Mom; the escort is farther below; Photo: NOAA

While all this was happening, we got the collateral benefit of proximity, when the Whales swam right by our boat.

Close encounter

I was able to get great photos of the calf when it swam up to and then under the boat. Thank goodness I had my wide-angle camera with me.

A great view

All I had to do was lean over the edge.

This is what I was wanting

I wish it had surfaced right there, but I can't complain about the photos I got.

Great views of both ends

Lowering the hydrophone

On our sunset trip, I recorded Whale songs from PacWhale's hydrophone. They lower them on all trips so participants can hear the male Whales singing (I covered this in my 2019 blog). On the first trip, the naturalists had a loud conversation with some children throughout the whole thing, rendering my recording useless. On the Ultimate trip, where I got the underwater photos ...

So cool

... the hydrophone wouldn't work. On the sunset cruise, I got a great recording, which I then used as the soundtrack for a video featuring my underwater photos.

The fin from above

Back to my main topic: NOAA coordinates disentanglement efforts and asks anyone who encounters an entangled Whale to monitor its whereabouts and take photos and video of the animal and entanglement from the safe and legal (remember the 100 yards?) distance.

Our naturalists photographing the entangled female; Photo: Scott Stevens

NOAA rules stipulate that rescue efforts only be conducted by trained, authorized personnel. Private citizens should not try to do it themselves. I know, we all see videos of people doing it.

According to NOAA, Whales, especially Whales in distress, can be dangerous.

These animals are huge and can easily cause damage without intending to

Plus, removing trailing lines and buoys without getting everything, which could easily happen, may diminish the chances of freeing the animal of all gear, leaving potentially lethal wraps of line still around the Whale.

The International Whaling Commission identifies entanglements as the main human-caused threat to large Whales, estimating that worldwide 300,000 Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises die from entanglements each year. Fortunately, most entanglements (like the one we saw) are not typically immediate emergencies, giving NOAA time to cut the animal free.

The NOAA person is engulfed in Whale blow

For entanglement response purposes, rescuers throw grapples or use hooks on the end of poles to attach to the gear entangling the animal.

Sometimes they attach large polyballs (buoy floats) for buoyancy and drag to keep the whale at the surface, slow it down and tire it out to make it more approachable, allowing rescuers to safely assess the animal.

On the video I saw of this rescue, it appears they did not attach floats. Perhaps it was because she had a calf, so she couldn't travel as fast or as far as an individual Whale.

Photo: NOAA

Specially designed hooked knives on the end of poles are then used to cut the animal free of all entangling gear. In the past 20 years, the network has removed and/or recovered gear off more than 30 Humpback Whales, representing more than 12,000 feet of measurable gear. There has also been one death of an authorized disentangler (in Canada's Gulf of St. Lawrence in 2017).

Photo: NOAA

These disentanglements significantly increase the animals' chances of survival. Animals have been confirmed entangled in local fishing gear (traps, longline and monofilament), mooring gear, marine debris, fish aggregating devices and actively-fished gear set as far away as Alaska.

To date, more than 20 Humpback Whales reported entangled in Hawai'i have been confirmed as carrying gear from Alaska or British Columbia, Canada. The greatest known straight-line distance (accounting for obstacles) a Whale has carried gear is over 2,450 nautical miles between Wrangell, Alaska, and Maui).

The mother and calf after she was freed; Drone photo: NOAA

Ultimate Whale Watch, Best Breach, Ultimate Boo-Boo

Ultimate Whale Watch

As I mentioned in my last post, we went on four Whale watches and a snorkeling trip.

I've already covered the Pacific Whale Foundation trips, but we did one Whale watch with another company: Ultimate Whale Watch & Snorkel.

It's the same company Caty and I went with in 2019.

That time, we enjoyed it, but didn't have any spectacular encounters. This time, we had a lot more action, including one of the best breaches I have ever photographed.

Wow, just wow!

This giant Humpback surfaced, twisted and flopped and I caught it all -- 14 separate photos of the process.

Plus, I got photos of the nice little roll it did a few minutes after the breach.

A big roll

Indulge me and look at them all ...

Was that great or what?

And, that's not all, we witnessed at least five more breaches/lunges at not quite as close range.

Breach with a view

When I look at this one ...

A great lunge

... I am reminded of Jules Verne's' Nautilus submarine in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Obviously, the design is based upon a Whale

And, speaking of submarines, I was so focused on Whale watching on one of our trips (I don't even know which one), that I did not see this ...

Photo: Scott Stevens

That's a huge submarine with the crew standing on top! How did I miss it?

But, back to the zodiac watch. It's not as comfy as the bigger boats, it's a bit tricky to move about and it is very difficult to stand. That's probably why I took fewer photos. The plus is that, if whale come close, you are one their level.

Eye-level has advantages

And, if you have an underwater camera with an extension stick, you have the potential of capturing underwater photos.

I took my digital underwater camera attached to a new, longer extension stick so that I could capture underwater action (or at minimum, Whale songs). Last time, I got great Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin video and my own song recordings, plus a distant underwater photo.

Underwater shots from 2019

This time, I did one underwater video when Whales were close but not real close. I didn't know if I got anything because I didn't look with so much other action going on. Then, when some Whales were a bit closer, I lowered the camera again. The current kept turning it toward the boat, making it hard to aim where I thought the whales might be. But, maybe I was getting something good.

Was I getting this underwater?

As I said, the extension stick was new. It screwed into the bottom of the camera, but it didn't ever feel tight enough. In my excitement, I failed to add a safety anchor. With all the straps I have, I could have fashioned something. I could have attached a buoyancy float (I have one). But, I didn't. So, when I pulled my $450 digital camera that possibly contained up-close whale shots up, it popped off the stick! I tried to snag the camera strap with the stick, but failed. So, I watched my camera (still taping) sink lazily to the bottom of Maui Bay. Stupid! Avoidable! But, it happened.

Me with my (well-secured) camera in 2019

I think the tour company should employ trained Dolphins to fetch dropped items. Wouldn't that be cool?

Real instances of a Beluga, left, and a Dolphin retrieving dropped phones

I figured out that, as the current turned my camera toward the boat (which I kept correcting), it was actually unscrewing the camera. I don't think that would have happened with my Smatree sticks, which I've had for a few years and which can be screwed tight. The Telesin stick that I used felt weak. I should have known better. I tossed it before we came home.

I got great photos on this trip, but felt that I was juggling too many cameras in too small a space (that probably contributed to my carelessness). I just need to decide on my equipment and go with it. I am always afraid I'll miss the perfect shot.

I ended up getting so many good shots, I could have been less greedy

Anyway, it was a great trip. Scott hadn't wanted to go on a zodiac trip and then he decided it was all he ever wanted to do!

How can you not love this?

Snorkeling (and Sailing)

Of course, we also wanted to snorkel. On my last trips, I had gone to Molokini with Scott and booked a Molokini trip with Caty that ended up not going to Molokini because the wind was coming from an unusual direction, causing 20-foot waves to crash against the back of the curved crater wall.

Another way to see wildlife

So, instead, we went to Coral Gardens, which I liked better than Molokini.

Scott and I both like to snorkel (but, I think I like it more)

I wanted to take Scott there, so I searched and found Sail Maul, which offered a West Maui snorkeling trip that promised west Maui spots, which could include Olowalu and/or Coral Gardens. A few days before we flew to Maui, Sail Maui contacted me to tell me they were not running that trip that day and they had switched us to the Lāna'i Coast Snorkel. I said fine.

It appears snorkel locations are weather dependent, so you can't guarantee any specific spot.

Map: Sail Maui

The trip was on the Alihilani, a 65-foot Gold Coast sailing catamaran. We motored over to and snorkeled in Manele Bay on the Lāna'i coast. It was fine.

Approaching Manele Bay

The boat was lovely (recently refurbished) ...

Photo: Sail Maui

... the access ladder to the water was easy to use (you can also jump in from the side of the boat, but ... uh ... no) ...

Does it really matter how you get in? Left photo: Sail Maui

... the crew was engaging ...

The captain was hilarious

... and the weather was great ...

It wasn't cool and it wasn't hot; it was perfect

The snorkeling was so-so. The bay is fairly deep, so you don't get too close to the coral (or the fish) and there is not as much variety as I've seen elsewhere. Plus, the coral is fairly bleached out.

The reef

It was definitely not as good as the Virgin Islands.

Coral in the U.S. Virgin Islands

In addition to my (now lost) underwater camera, we had also taken a GoPro and Caty's identical underwater camera. Scott used the GoPro and let me use Caty's camera. You can bet I secured that baby to me! I managed to get some photos ...

Male Redlip Parrotfish

Orangespine Unicornfish

Yellow Tang

Teardrop Butterflyfish and Hawai'ian Chub

Blue Coral

... including some new fish ...

Goldring Surgeonfish

Bullethead Parrotfish

Sailfin Tang

So far, I have failed to ID this Parrotfish

Paletail Unicornfish

Female Redlip and Juvenile Daisy Parrotfish

And, we both got some fairly decent video: Scott's and mine.

But, it wasn't as bright or as close as we wanted. And, we saw no turtles! That would have been great in that clear, clear water.

It was the clearest water I have seen in Hawai'i

Then, we sailed (very briefly) and traveled along the very choppy "wind line" between Lāna'i and Maui. We saw a couple of distant Whales ...

A baby and mama Humpback

... and passed some Brown Boobies resting on a buoy. I had taken the lens I normally put on my 5D and put it on my 90D. The combo didn't seem to work. Everything was very soft and diffused. I have to test and see what works together before my next trip.

This should have been a good shot

Fortunately, I already have good pictures of Brown Boobies. But, those were flying. I would have loved to capture the lounging ones.

Maui Brown Booby, 2019

The Alihilani

The trip was from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., so it took up most of the day. It included a continental breakfast and lunch plus liquor.

I was surprised that the drinks were included.

Drinking on a boat in the middle of the day isn't my thing. But, it was for lots of folks onboard (can you say overserved?).

While it was a lovely day, I would have preferred to concentrate on snorkeling and skip the few minutes we spent sailing and the time devoted to drinking.

On a positive note, all of my gear (I have my own prescription mask and flippers) performed perfectly.

No fogging, no leaks, no issues

We were ready, but had no time

We had intended to snorkel from land on this trip, despite the issues we had getting in and out of the water in rough surf on our last trip.

The winds were calmer this time, so it probably would have worked.

But, snorkeling takes up a lot of time because you have to find a spot, schlep gear, actually snorkel and then get cleaned up afterwards. The only day that we had time was the day Will flew over. So, we had just one snorkel experience on this trip.

My Most Popular Photo

And, speaking of Whales, I mentioned earlier that it is tricky to capture a breach because you don't know where or when it will happen. So, often you whip around with the camera and just start shooting. Sometimes, you get this ...

Yep, there is a Whale there

Sometimes you get this ...

Totally out of focus

Sometimes you get this ...

Missed it completely

Sometimes this is all you get ...

A bit too late

I posted this one on a Facebook Group Page called Crap Wildlife Photography, which is a great place to laugh at yourself about the ones that got away.