Spring is the time of year following the passing of the Easter holiday and spring break where there are more whales in Hawaii than there are visitors. As a natural consequence, it is an ideal time for us to take our annual hiatus for research and/or maintenance projects.

Up until our very last tours, we were still seeing late season humpback mothers and calves. We also had the pleasure of encountering our year-round resident whales, namely the pilot whales, and on one tour we had a glimpse at a pair of exotic Cuvier’s beaked whales, not to mention great interactions with the playful spinner dolphins that often like to frolic at the harbor entrance.

It is always difficult when the tourist season comes to a close. Please do call our office at 808-322-0028 for more information as to when our tours might resume. We do hope you enjoy your stay in the islands and perhaps we will get to meet you at a future date.

Best wishes for a beautiful holiday,

Captain Dan

Here it is April and the humpbacks are still being seen in good numbers! What a way to end a great season with sightings through to the finish, at least that’s what we are hoping for. It has come as somewhat of a surprise to us as the sightings in generous numbers were on the early end, so one would reason the departure might correspond. With the population on the rise each year, perhaps this will set a trend, making for a wider range of viewing months in Hawaii. Time will tell.

While trips vary greatly from day to day or even hour to hour, there have been some recent trips that could easily be confused with the peak of the season in February and March. Typically, it is the mothers and calves that remain behind as the calf needs to stay with its mother on the breeding grounds a good three to four months before it is strong enough to make the long journey north. Not only have we been seeing a good number of mothers and calves, but as one might expect there are still quite a few bulls on the breeding grounds as well, presumably staying late so they might take advantage of some late season mating before they too head back to the cold waters of the Pacific Northwest.

How do we know some of the whales we are seeing are males? A valid question because without the presence of a calf there is simply no way to confirm the gender of a humpback by just looking at it spout at the surface. So what gives the males away? The answer is quite simple and definitive - the humpback song. Even as recent as yesterday we dropped an underwater microphone in to the water and had the hymns of the humpback come booming in over the loud speakers. After we successfully isolated the whale that was singing (there are a few different ways you can do that) we patiently waited for the whale to rise near us so that we could take a photograph of its tail. Patience paid off, after the third surfacing, it lifted its huge tail in to the air and we successfully clicked off a few frames. Now why is that so important? Its important because as we mentioned before it is virtually impossible to tell gender at the surface, but we know from past research projects that only males are responsible for the song, so now we have a photgraph of a whale we know to be male and if we run the photograph through the thousands of others in our database, then we can pull up its record and add the new information to its file. It’s likely we could have been tracking this whale for decades and may have never known its gender before now.

It’s thought to be about a 50/50 split between males and females on the breeding grounds but as these opportunities continue to present themselves and we gather more information on gender, we will be able to more accurately determine the ratio of males to females and be able to better understand the relationships between genders.

Soon we will begin our offshore search for our resident whales as we do miss them during the winter when we are looking inshore for the humpbacks. At least for today though the humpbacks still captivate our attention and lure us in their direction. So while spring break is coming to a close for our terrestial visitors and marking the end of the winter tourism, there is no indication that the end of the humpback season is here.

We look forward to having you aboard one of whale watch adventures. For reservations, call 1-808-322-0028.

See you on the water. Captain Dan

Humpback mothers and calves have been the treat of the week. February and March are peak breeding months and with a twelve month gestation, that means peak birthing months as well.

The youngsters have to do a fair bit of nursing before they are strong enough to make the long journey northward with their mothers. Some mothers and calves will remain in Hawaiian waters even in to early summer. Generally, the calves need to be with the mothers on the breeding grounds for approximately three months before they are ready to make the migration back to the cold waters of the Pacific Northwest.

Bottlenose dolphins have been interacting with humpbacks a lot this past week. There have literally been dozens of dolphins intermixed with their larger cousins. Bottlenose dolphins are like the one featured in the televison series “Flipper.” Today’s tour not only had bottlenose dolphins but also their smaller relatives, the spinner dolphins, frolicking with a humpback in the nearshore water. Spinner dolphins are found in large groups of 100 or more and today’s encounter was no exception. At the size of a small person, what they lack in size compared to the 800 pound bottlenose dolphin, they certainly make up for in number.

On another note, there are still some humpback songs to be heard underwater as well, which is always a real treat. The males are the ones that are responsible for the song. Once the humpbacks leave Hawaii, the underwater world becomes a quiet place compared to the symphony that is heard when humpback whales are in town.

We hope you can join us on one of our whale watching adventures before the end of the seasonal stay of the humpback whales especially while many mothers and calves are still skirting the coastline. For reservations, call 1-808-322-0028.

Aloha, Captain Dan

Despite the most recent tsunami warning because of the earthquake in Chile, the beautiful blue Hawaii ocean has resumed its usual allure. With an average visibility of 150 - 200 feet on any given day, Kona’s coast is revered to be the most beautiful water in the state, ideal for snorkeling and whale watching. It is always a special treat when whales pass below the boat, the white flippers are turquiose in color through the crystal blue water.

Humpback whales have been grouping up in large numbers as they chase the females about in hopes of some spring mating before they begin their long journey back north again. A lot of surface activity can be seen even from the shoreline this time of year, from flipper and tail slapping to full scale jumping, called “breaching.” Whales tend to splash in response to other whales moving through the area.

We have enjoyed many close encounters with humpback whales this past week and will continue to relish in their company before they begin to head back to Alaska in April and May. Sea turtles, manta rays and dolphins have also been plentiful in their appearance as of late. Every day provides a bit of a surprise in terms of wild life. Whales continue to reliably make an impression on our crew and our guests.

We will look forward to having you join us on the Big Island for your own personal experience with Dan McSweeney’s Whale Watch. Call 1-808-322-0028 for reservations.

The peak of the annual migration for humpback whales is upon us. February is always a favorite time of the year for Captain Dan, crew, and guests alike. While activity can vary greatly day to day or even hour to hour, overall this is an amazing time of year for viewing humpback whales in the islands. The more whales in the vicinity the more likely they are to interact with eachother. So if you are driving up and down the Kona Coast and seeing big splashes from the shoreline, those are likely coming from humpback whales. Imagine the size of the splash an 80,000 pound whale makes as it jumps out of the water and crashes back down again.

The last couple of weeks have also yielded some interspecies encounters with humpbacks and some of our year-round resident whales. Two such days humpbacks were mixed in with the small pygmy killer whales and bottlenose dolphins (if you remember the television series “Flipper” he was a bottlenose). On another occasion, we came across a group of the small and rare dwarf sperm whale. Another afternoon the tour was privy to a friendly encounter with some of our favorite local pilot whales and spotted dolphins that travel in groups of one hundred or more. And on a few different tours, a whaleshark even made an appearance. Whalesharks are not actually whales, but they are extraordinarily large sharks that feed on microscopic food and get their name from their huge size. While sightings of whalesharks are rare, encounters are usually quite friendly as whalesharks seem to exhibit a lot of curiosity for boats. Combined with encounters with the notorious humpback whales, a better day could day could not be had.

Every day the whales surprise us as to what they are doing, where they are found and even who they are engaging with. We never know quite what to expect. On some days, there are so many whales in the area we are literally having to navigate our way through them and then on the very same day at a different time, we may be hardpressed to find them. What often happens in those rare instances is that a female in estrus has moved in along the coastline, all of the male whales somehow sense her presence and take off after her. As they all go charging down the coast, the area essentially empties out until the males work out their dominance and begin to filter back in to the area again. Some females can come back in to another estrus only one month after their calf is born.

In either event, February is a favored time of year for watching humpback whales in the Hawaiian Islands as there presence of numbers is definitely up. The temperature is just about perfect this time of the year as well. Keep in mind this is the busiest time of year for both the seasonal visiting humpback whales and the tourism rises in the islands as guests leave cold weather areas in favor of the Hawaiian tropical winter. So do book in advance to guarantee yourself a seat on Dan McSweeney’s Whale Watch (1-808-322-0028) or book online at www.ilovewhales.com

We will look forward to seeing you aboard one of our tours on the beautiful Kona coast of the Big Island of Hawaii.

Captain Dan

In Hawaii, it doesn’t get any better than January, February, and March to view the seasonal humpback whales. And while early January is normally the front end of the annual migration, this January has gotten off to a great start with a lot of sightings. Mothers and calves were sighted this year just before Christmas and since then, we have even encountered several mating groups.

Today’s tours both included inter-species encounters with a large group of bottlenose dolphins interacting with the gregarious humpback whales. While such interplay is not common, it is always a treat to witness.

With tourism picking back up in the Hawaiian Islands, we are running a full schedule each week so you have many options to choose from when booking your reservation. But don’t delay, we often do sell out. Contact our reservations office at 808-322-0028 to schedule your whale watch adventure. We look forward to seeing you on the Big Island’s beautful Kona coast.

Aloha from Captain Dan.

Humpback whales are arriving on their breeding grounds from the icy cold waters of the Pacific Northwest and have been coming in slowly but steadily since mid-October. Numbers around the island are still fairly sparce but as every day passes, more and more of them arrive in the Hawaiian Islands. As December turns to January, sightings will be more common place until their numbers peak during the months of February and March.

Amazingly even with the few sightings there have been around the Big Island to date, we have been finding them with relative consistency. And fortunately on the days when we have not been had a humpback in the vicinity, our resident whales have made some grand appearances of their own including the playful pilot whales and the rare dwarf sperm whales. The giant sperm whales have also been offshore; in fact our research boat had a successful satellite tag deployment only a few days ago.

The Hawaiian Islands are an ideal place to view more than a dozen varieties of marine mammals throughout the entire year. Dolphins continue to be among our guests’ most favorite form of entertainment, especially the playful spinner dolphins that frequent the shallow water coastline during the daylight hours.

Wild life is always full of fun surprises. We will look forward to you joining us as a guest aboard one of our whale watch adventures. We have regular trips running Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings and are adding additional trips per demand as our high season for visitors is just beginning to get busy. Call our office at 808-322-0028 for availibility and reservations.

Autumn in Hawaii coincides with the front end of the annual migration of the North Pacific Humpback Whale.  Sightings around the Big Island have been coming in intermittently since mid October.  While still sporadic, their numbers will only continue to increase as November turns to December and December turns to January.

Whale watching tours have resumed again this week in time for the winter season which is a prime time to be in Hawaii.  Call the office for reservations and current trip schedules at 808-322-0028.

Seen most recently by our research vessel are the notorious false killer whales (pseudorca).  Several mammals were tagged with satellite tags on last month’s research project and transmissions from animals are still coming in as recently as early this week.  False killer whale populations are thought to be in jeopardy partly due to being taken as by-catch in long liner fisheries and partly due to high levels of toxicity.  The effort off the Big Island is an attempt to ultimately get protection for this threatened species, while coming to terms with the primary cause of their decline.  Captain Dan has a lifetime of dedication to marine mammal conservation efforts.

Besides pseudorca, our research boat has regular encounters with the resident pilot whales and, of course, resident populations of dolphins seldom fail to make an appearance.  Whether it be the bottlenose dolphin from the television series ‘Flipper’, or our local superstar, the spinner dolphin, often found close to shore during daylight hours, or perhaps the gregarious spotted dolphin most often in the deep, Mother Nature always keeps us guessing.  Any of five species of dolphins are likely to show up on any given morning in any given area.

Whatever your flavor, the Big Island is bound to have it when it comes to marine life.  Some of the most prolific waters in the world with nearly two dozen varieties of marine mammals, a dozen of which we frequently encounter.

We will look forward to having you join us aboard one of our whale watching adventures whether it be in the fall of winter, you cannot go wrong when visiting Hawaii’s beautiful Kona coastline.

This summer has involved numerous research projects  including studying Hawaii’s resident toothed whales and traveling to Alaska, Vancouver, and Washington to revisit the black and white killer whales or orcas with Dr. Robin Baird and Ken Balcomb.

Presently still offshore off the west coast of the U.S. , whale watch trips off the Kona Coast will likely resume this autumn as toursim in the Hawaiian islands begins to increase. 

For more information on excursions this fall and winter, call the office at 808-322-0028 for the schedule and to make reservations.

The transition from winter to spring is always a welcomed occasion when we get to re-visit our familiar resident whales as humpback whales exit the Hawaiian waters to return to their summer feeding grounds of Southeast Alaska.

This spring has been a prolific time for us as pods of pilot and pygmy killer whales, groups of beaked whales, and schools of spotted and spinner dolphins have made regular appearances.

We currently are in the midst of completing one of our on-going research projects where we study Hawaii’s resident species.  In particular, the diving behavior of beaked whales has sparked our interest as they are often the whales implicated in shoreline strandings following naval sonar activity.

Nearing the completion of this phase of our most recent research project, we are likewise putting a temporary close to our tours.  The spring is an ideal time to perform our annual dry dock and maintenance projects or to take our personal hiatus as the visitor counts in Hawaii are low.   We will resume whale watch excursions for the summer when we will run tours a few days per week.  Check with our office for the schedule at 1-888-WHALES-6.

We hope you enjoy your visit and we will look forward to having you on one of our future adventures on Dan McSweeney’s Whale Watch on the beautiful Kona Coast of the Big Island of Hawaii.

Aloha,

Captain Dan