Humpback Whales of Maui - #1702123715 - Footprints in Paradise: Photos of Maui & the Hawaiian Islands

Photos in this gallery are grouped by the different types of whale behavior. All of the images are from whale-watching cruises with the Pacific Whale Foundation that sailed out of Ma'alaea Harbor on the Island of Maui. Each year I go on about 40 cruises on the waters of Ma'alaea Bay and the Kealaikahiki Channel between Maui and the Island of Kaho'olawe.

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The whales in this energetic surface-active competition blow frequently and voluminously with the effort of the chase, to the delight of the crew of the sailboat watching from close range.

8 February 2013

$Occasionally the water droplets in the residual misty steam from a blow refract the sun's rays just right, creating a subdued rainbow-like display above a whale's head. 8 February 2013$

A nice straight-up spout of steam rises high above a member of a competition pod. A good energetic blow like this can rise 15 or 20 feet in the air.

8 February 2013

A sequence of photographs of a single whale performing a fluke slap:

This behavior consists of a whale raising its peduncle and flukes completely out of the water and slapping them forcefully on the surface of the water. When the flukes hit the water, a loud resonant noise can be heard for miles. Humpback whales are known to repeat this behavior over

8 March 2013

An energetic Humpback calf performing repetitive flukes slaps. I timed this youngster's activity for more than 10 minutes, with a new slap of the tail coming every 2 to 3 seconds. The sound as the flukes hit the surface were very loud and similar to that of a gunshot.

8 March 2013

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< 339 of 606 >

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