Maui Whale Watching Is Heating Up
With more than a month to go before the peak of whale watching season sightings are beginning to heat up. On a Christmas day whale watching trip out of Ma’alaea harbor with Pacific Whale Foundation we observed several pods of whales. According to Casey, the boats captain, this time of year they’re generally happy to see just a lone whale or two. But in the last ten days they’ve spotted more and more groups of whales. Peak whale watching season in Maui is generally considered to occur during February and March.
One particularly active competition pod of about 5 whales was observed for over 45 minutes. A competition pod consists of a female Humpback accompanied by more than one male. As the males jostle for position lots of surface activity can be observed. In the picture above one whale can be seen blowing while another dives beneath the surface.
Whales are also easily visible from the shore. One particularly good spot is the Scenic Lookout near mile marker 9 on highway 30 between Ma’alaea and Lahaina. On the same day we observed several whale breaches from there. Pacific Whale Foundation staffs a free “Whale Information Station” there daily from 8 AM to 2 PM during whale watching season.
Do you have a whale tale you’d like to share? Why not leave us a comment?
