A Whale of a Good Time!

One of the highlights of my trip to Maui was seeing TONS of whales! Beginning in the fall of each year, North Pacific Humpback Whales migrate to Maui so the females can give birth in the warm, shallow Hawaiian waters. (And away from their only natural predator, the Orca ~ killer whale.) 2008 was a record setting year in Maui, with over 1700 whales counted during the 2008 Great Whale Count. Even though we could see whales easily from land, we wanted a chance to get up close and personal with these magnificent creatures - so we boarded a large catamaran operated by the Pacific Whale Foundation (an awesome non profit organization dedicated to protecting whales and their ocean) at Maalea Harbor (picture above)...and set out to meet the whales!

After only a few minutes, we encountered three whales ~

a mother, her baby, and a male "escort." The curious baby breached again and again right along side our boat ~ ~ and put on quite a show for us! Mama slapped and waved her big ol' tail......and made quite a SPLASH! Even Flipper dropped by to say "hi!"
(Actually, it was more like "Eee-ee-ee-ee-eeee!")

Check this out: Did you know that the adult whales cease to eat during their 4 to 6 months visit to the Hawaiian islands? They live off of their blubber and as a result, can lose up to 1/3 of their body weight. I don't believe any human tourists can EVER claim doing THAT!

Additionally, the mother whales must produce a nutrient rich milk for their growing offspring...who, weighing in at about 1 ton at birth, are steadily gaining about 10 pounds per HOUR! Whoa baby!!!

The male whales spend most of their time following the females around, trying to impress them with their unique singing ability. Hearing the male escort serenade us with his beautiful song was an unexpected treat! (And somehow left me feeling strangely aroused...)

If you listen carefully, you can hear him singing on this video

that was shot by my blog-mistress' son.

(Click here to listen to more live whales singing right now!)

And now...

...how about ending this whale of a day with a little whale humor?...

Two whales, male and female, are swimming happily around in the ocean when they come upon a boat. On seeing the boat, the male says, "Hey, I've got a great idea! Let's swim up under that boat and blowout really hard through our blowholes!"

The female says, "Oh, I don't know..."

"Come on," the male begs, "it'll be fun, come on...just this once!"

The female agrees and they swim up under the boat and blow out, capsizing the boat and sending hapless sailors into the briny blue.

As they are swimming away, the male says, "Wow, that was fun, wasn't it? Hey! I've got another idea! Let's swim back there and eat all the sailors!"

To which the female, exasperated, replies, "Look, I agreed to the blow job, but I'm not swallowing any seamen."