January 25: Another Type of Whale Watch

Ben and I had signed up for the four hour whale and snorkel tour offered by the Ultimate Whale Watch company this morning. But we were expecting it to be canceled when we heard the weather forecast. Last nights’ forecast predicted steady showers and a high wind for the morning.  We didn’t receive any cancellation and the morning forecast was just for light rain through about 7 AM, so we packed our gear and headed on down to Mala Wharf on the north end of Front Street in Lahaina. As you probably remember, most of Lahaina was destroyed by a major wildfire in August, but this small stretch of Front Street, which included several  popular restaurants as well as Snorkel Bob’s, was spared. Ultimate Whale Watch, which had operated out of the harbor, recently moved their launching operations to Mala wharf. The company uses rafts and not sailboats or motorboats for their tours, so the small wharf suited them fine.

When we arrived, the weather was rainy, foggy and windy. We were still half expecting that the tour would be canceled. But the captain said that improved weather was expected in the next hour or so, and so the raft was loaded up and off we went in search of blue skies and active whales.

We didn’t find the better weather until the last half hour of the tour. For most the time there was steady if not actually pouring down rain, and to say we got wet was an understatement. The ocean was not exactly rough, but it certainly was very active. At times the whole experience was, frankly, quite miserable. Even the captain and the mate were shivering in the chilly and unrelenting rain.  The shoreline was rough enough that the captain couldn’t find a place that was safe for us to snorkel and we never got into the water, except for a brief swim off the boat to take care of our bodily requirements after three or four hours on the toilet-less boat. (I mentioned this not only because it was a new and adventurous experience for me, but inquiring minds might want to know.)

But we did find whales! Plenty of whales to keep me happy anyway. Not only did they breach, slap their tails, and dive down into the seas, we saw lots of whales just swimming along next to us.

It was way too wet and cold for anyone to have a camera to take pictures. I found this one from Wikipedia Commons off the web to show you what whales look like when they swim in the Hawaiian waters. Here you see them from above.

And this photo shows you how they look from a boat. I guess it doesn’t look too exciting, but when you’re on a low raft you’re more on their level, more eye to eye, than when you’re on a big boat.  The small and nimble rafts can also get much closer, and we were very close to many of these whales today. Hawaiian law says you can’t be within 100 feet of them and we weren’t , but we were so much closer than when you’re on a big boat.  And when they breathe and their blow spout explodes with water vapor so close to you it feels somehow intimate.  I loved it!

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One thing we saw today that I hadn’t seen before was the formation of what is called a competition pod. We first saw a mother and a baby and watched them for a while. Then the crew realized that there was a third whale, a male, who was escorting the duo and offering protection against encroaching males looking to mate with the female.  Other whales started coming into the area and formed a group that the crew told us was or would soon be fighting underwater with each other to try and claim possession of the female.  Of course we couldn’t see anything happening underwater, so after we watched what we could see from the top for about 20 minutes, the captain move the raft on. 

Well, you can see that I am pretty interested in the whales. But our whole group is interested in food well! 

Yesterday for lunch we went to Mama’s Fish House, one of Maui’s oldest fish-focused restaurants. Ben and I have had dinner there before on our other trips, but this was our first lunch and it was John and Dawn‘s first visit. It is a beautiful place right on the beach and we all enjoyed it very much.

We continue to enjoy the sunsets, and Dawn and I have made a point of taking a good look at our almost full moon. It doesn’t make its way around to our side of our building until about 4:30 AM, but I seem to wake up about that time so I’ve gotten up to see it.  It can be very dramatic against our clouds.

Being at this resort continues to be a pleasure. I’ve decided that daily maid service is the best thing ever! And just being outside and enjoying the comfortable and beautiful surroundings is a joy. I had to laugh this morning when I spotted these little birds by the pool.  I guess us humans aren’t the only ones enjoying this place!