Last Whale Watch ~ alicka promise

The whale watching scene in Maui is growing a little thin since most of the whales that were swimming through are on their way back to Alaska.

I went on a whale watch last Monday and got a few good tail shots and one huge breach right in front of the boat (alas, no photo), but no crazy awesome action like my past few times on the Spirit of Lahaina.

I decided to give it one last shot, and went back out yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to run into a pretty fierce competition pod. I also got some gorgeous shots of the island!

A shot of Maui from the bow of the Spirit of Lahaina

Our first whale sighting of the day!

Curious!

A humpback whale is heading over to check out some whale watchers.

This competition pod we ran into started getting a little rowdy. The male whales were ramming into each other.

Another gorgeous shot of my home island, Maui.

This pod had about 6 or 7 whales at the surface.

It was really amazing running into this pod. This is the most whales I have seen all at one time in one place. They are so massive on their own as individuals that it's really insane to see them all massed together in a pod of six or seven whales.

The wind was pretty much nonexistent on the ocean yesterday so I could really hear the whales as they breathed at the surface. There would be a small puff of air as they exhaled, and then a strained, short whistle as they breathed in. Sometimes, they even trumpeted at the surface. It sounded a lot like the conch shell they carry on the boat.