Captain. There Be Whales.

If you follow our vacations you know Jan and I enjoy whale watching.  Every trip to Alaska included one.  The whales that are in Alaska from May until October are in Hawaii, near Maui, from November until May.  Manners alone dictate that we go visit.

Five minutes out of port and just clearing the harbor sea wall, a humpback went full breach.  No one had a camera ready.

There were lots of Moms taking their children out for a swim, which is typical of Maui.
 We can see this from our porch too, just not nearly as close.  They are very good about staying a distance away with the boats.  They also cut the engines until the whales swim away.
 Mom taking a baby out for a Thursday swim.
When the fluke comes up the whale is headed down.  On average, they will stay below for 20 minutes but can make it much longer if the mood suits the whale.
One of three breaches.  This one is a good distance off.  I saw the blow near that boat and was starting to shoot when the whale popped out.  Marine biologists theorize the whales breach as a way to communicate.  Given that the mammal is enormous the resulting sound of the splash into the water carries many miles.  For whales, who hear more than we do in the sound spectrum, the sound might be heard hundreds of miles away.

Jan enjoys soaking up the vitamin sea.  Sitting aft.  Sun in her face.  Breeze in her hair.
We've been here before.  Almost two decades ago, and we visited the park below to see the Banyan tree, believed to be one of the oldest and largest trees on the planet.  It looks like several trees, but it isn't.  The branches of the tree stretch out and when it starts to get heavy the tree sends shoots down into the ground and a trunk forms to support it.  Some are small and some are very large.  This is one tree.
It is bigger than the last time I visited this park.  Plenty of shade from this tree.
 Looks like it needed some pruning probably because someone tried to climb it.
Here are some of those shoots headed down into the ground.

Also visiting today, The Emerald Princess.  The port at Lahaina is busy with the tenders from the ship.  I thought the town would be busier, but most people seem to want to go to the beach or explore nearby islands.  It will leave tonight and head to Mexico.


We will leave tomorrow and head to New York City.  It will be a long flying day and classes start next week.  I will have plenty for show and tell.

Comments

  1. UnknownJanuary 10, 2019 at 9:51 PM

    Fabulous and so glad you all had a wonderful trip and adventure!

    ReplyDelete

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