Wear sun screen! The Hawaii sun is like a friendly enemy. You don’t know the damage it is inflicting until it’s too late! I had a blast and enjoyed my first whale counting experience but did pay the price that night from not wearing sun screen. But it was worth it. I consider myself lucky because I saw more than I thought I would from the shore.
There were about 20 of us for whale counting at La ie Point. A couple who has been married for over 20 years were our Site Leaders. They've been doing this for 9 years and 8 at this same location. Whale counting takes patience and time! We sat in one place for 4 hours. At this location there is no shelter or bathroom. It started out a bit overcast for the first hour or so and then the sun came out. But with the perfect trade winds it never seemed like it got too hot and I didn't realize the sun was that strong. So no, I didn't use sun screen, but I had it with me.
Whenever anyone saw something we'd holler out so everyone could look and hopefully see. I thought we'd go out to the end of the point but our site leader said from the cement wall we could see over all the rocks and have the best view. They like you to work in pairs for counting and recording. Both will watch the ocean and when you start seeing you have to count the number of whales you see (and if any are calves) and the type of activity you see. Spout (most common), breach, slap, dive, etc. We worked in pairs so I worked with Roland. He's a retiree who has moved to the island with his wife. His wife was supposed to be here but she recently made a trip home to New Jersey and got caught there due to the snow storm. .
I feel lucky because I personally saw about 9 instances of a whale breaking the water. I saw one breach while looking through the binoculars that was cool! It was actually about 2 miles away but through binoculars seemed much, much closer. I also saw one break the water off in the distance (no binoculars) where the sun sparkled off the skin but not sure what part of the whale actually came out of the water. In the morning most of the sightings were about .3 to 1 mile off shore, which is considered close. As the morning went on the whales were further out, closer to 2 to 4 miles off shore, which is more common.
Ah, you may be wondering what I mean by spout, breach and skin? I hope this helps.
Typical humpback whale behaviors include:
Blow – this is the water that a whale pushes through it’s spout when it comes ot the surface. On average, adults’ surface and breathe every 10 to 15 minutes but can stay submerged for up to 45 minutes. Calves (or babies) must come to the surface every 3 to 5 minutes.
Head Rise or Spy Hop – this happens when a whale rises vertically toward the surface with only it’s head out of the water. Some think this allows the whale to see the activity going on above the water.
Tail Slap – this is when a humpback raises its tail flukes out of the water and slaps them forcefully on the surface. A lot of times this happens in rapid succession. Some think this is a warning of some sort.
Pec Slap – this happens when the whale slaps the water surface with one or both fins at the same time. This may be a communication.
Head Slap – this is a competitive display when the whale lunges forward with only its head raised above water.
Penduncle Slap – when the whale throws its tail out of the water and in the process slaps its penduncle on the surface.
Dive – the humpback will arch its back up out of the water. The tail may or may not been seen. If this happens the whale will not be seen for sometime after.
Breach – the whale uses its tail to launch itself out of the water then lands back on the water with a slap.
I wish I could share pictures of everything I saw but it’s impossible. Things happen so quick you don't have time to react. There is definitely practice needed to whale count and as the day went on I felt like I started to get the hang of it. It takes patience! They break the 4 hours into 30 minute sets and for the entire time you stare out into the ocean hoping to see something. It's easier to see when the water is calm and the winds are calm. The spouts from the whales (water in the air) will stay in the air longer for easier viewing. As the sea got choppy, the swells got larger and the winds picked up it was hard to tell the difference between white caps and whales and the water would dissipate much faster. I'm definitely looking forward to February 26th, the next time we count whales.
The only reason they count whales between 8:00 am and Noon is for volunteers. They wanted to pick a time that would allow people to still have most of the day to do whatever they needed so it didn’t seem like a big inconvenience. And counting on the last Saturday of the month is for consistency. And when doing the whale counting, it happens on the same day at the same time on all islands at all locations. This way, if a whale is spotted at one location you know it isn’t the same whale spotted at a different location at the same time.
A few bits of information I learned:
- The humpback whales migrate to the warm waters of Hawaii for birthing and teaching the young how to hunt for food.
- You might see one whale, or two or three together. Many times you’ll see one large spout which is the Mom and a small spout which is the baby. Sometimes there will be another large spout and it is the escort. They don’t know why there is an escort. It could be a male looking for something from the female or the father of the baby, who knows.
- January is usually the slowest month for sightings. February should be better and weather permitting March is the best. The numbers for February are a bit skewed from last year since the count was supposed to take place at the same time as a tsunami warning. So counting didn’t happen as in past years.
And for me, no trip to the North Shore is complete without stopping at Sunset Beach. The waves were about 10 to 12 feet and the surfers were having fun. I still can’t believe they can navigate the surf without injury; at least today.
So until next time; love, hugs and prayers to my faithful followers, if your still out there!
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