Each year the humpback whales make their migratory trip from Alaska and the frigid and nutrient rich Bearing Sea to the warm Pacific Ocean and tropical Hawaiian Islands. We are lucky enough to live in Maui half of the year, which means we have the honor of seeing these beautiful creatures during their most active time of the season. When they arive in Maui, they mate, deliver, and raise their calfs. The males are quite active putting on a display for the females. As the mothers deliver their calfs they begin the task of teaching them how to breech and nursing them while keeping a close eye on them in the shallows. I was out whale watching as soon as the season opened!
This photo is of a mother and her calf. The mother would breech and the calf would watch her. After the second breech that the mother would make, the calf would imitate her actions and the baby would attempt a breech right next to her. They are hard to catch on film, but I managed to catch a couple of them. Here is the rest of the sequence.
This Was the mothers display for her calf. After the last part of her fin entered the water, her calf breeched right next to her. The calves are hard to catch because they are so much smaller than the adults and because their breech is over as fast as they begin! I caught one calf breech on film, unfortunately, I have not figured out how to upload from my flip video to Active Rain yet, but when I do, I will post it for you all to see.
As the sun was setting I caught one more whale sighting. If you look in the center of the photo below you will see the tail of a humpback whale.
We went out whale watching in the afternoon and we got to watch the sunset from the water out by the back side of Molokini. It was a beautiful sight. I took the photo below as we made our way back to Maalaea Bay.
Every day in Maui I soak in the beauty all around. It is absolutely a tropical paradise!
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