Three members (most likely males) of a raucous competition pod in violent contention in very shallow water just outside the breakwater of Ma'alaea Harbor. It is VERY unusual to see a competition pod this close to the shore, let alone within sight of the quayside and harbor shops at Ma'alaea Village.


8 March 2013
Three members (most likely males) of a raucous competition pod in violent contention in very shallow water just outside the breakwater of Ma'alaea Harbor. It is VERY unusual to see a competition pod this close to the shore, let alone within sight of the quayside and harbor shops at Ma'alaea Village.


8 March 2013
A solitary Humpback blows while logging at the surface in the waters just offshore from the condos (visible in background) of Ma'alaea Village.

5 February 2013
A mature Humpback displays several large Acorn barnacles (Coronula diaderma) encrusting the its blowhole crest. Barnacles accumulate quickly on even the juvenile whales.

5 February 2013
Just offshore of Ukumehame, a pair of whales blow at the surface; they are all that is visible of a competition pod, the other members of which ares otherwise occupied below the surface. 

5 February 2013
The three smokestacks of the oil-fired Kealia Beach power plant, north of Kihei on the shore of Ma'alaea Bay.
8 January 2013
The harbor and village of Ma'alaea sits at the feet of the West Maui Mountains on the leeward side of Maui.
8 January 2013
Kayakers are attracted to the sheltered waters of Ma'alaea Bay, especially during the height of the Humpback whale migration. 
19 December 2012
The Pacific Whale Foundation's MV OCEAN ODYSSEY with a boat load of happy tourists outward bound from Ma'alaea Harbor for a whale-watching cruise. PWF has a fleet of shallow-draft motor vessels that run out to Lana'i and Molokini for snorkeling day cruises, as well as whale-watching cruises in Ma'alaea Bay, the waters off Lahaina, and the channels between Maui and the neighbor islands of Kaho'olawe and Lana'i.
Three members (most likely males) of a raucous competition pod in violent contention in very shallow water just outside the breakwater of Ma'alaea Harbor. It is VERY unusual to see a competition pod this close to the shore, let alone within sight of the quayside and harbor shops at Ma'alaea Village.


8 March 2013
Three members (most likely males) of a raucous competition pod in violent contention in very shallow water just outside the breakwater of Ma'alaea Harbor. It is VERY unusual to see a competition pod this close to the shore, let alone within sight of the quayside and harbor shops at Ma'alaea Village.


8 March 2013
Three members (most likely males) of a raucous competition pod in violent contention in very shallow water just outside the breakwater of Ma'alaea Harbor. It is VERY unusual to see a competition pod this close to the shore, let alone within sight of the quayside and harbor shops at Ma'alaea Village.


8 March 2013
See photo in original gallery.