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Oahu Whales?

cp73

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Heading to Ko Olina in three weeks and wondering if anyone is seeing whales in Oahu now? I know Oahu has less whales than some of the other islands, but looking at a map I am not sure why?
 
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jsfletch

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I see them from my lanai almost every other day. Neighbor has a boat and goes fishing, sees them everytime he's out. The resort has a whale count group supposedly 18k whales will visit Hi this year.
 

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My son and I went on a whale watching trip with Hawaiian Nautical on 1/14/2016 on the west side of Oahu. They provided transportation to and from Marriott Ko Olina. We had a great time. Saw 3 humpback whales as soon as we got out a way from the harbor. Saw them slap fins and breach 2 times. The rest of the time we followed them around and watched them spout, come up to the surface.and their tails as they went down. We really enjoyed the afternoon and were happy to see the whales.
 

Southerngirl528

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Humpback whales can be seen off of any of the Hawaiian islands, though usually not in as large numbers as say, Maui.

The reason Maui is so popular with these gorgeous behemoths is that the mama whales really love hanging out in the Au'au Channel that runs along the leeward sides of Maui with Lana'i to the west, Moloka'i to the north and Kaho'olawe in that mix. The channel is no more than around 300-400 feet deep and the mom's like to hang out with their babies there. (No one knows where the mom's actually give birth. My understanding is that a humpback birth has never been filmed or witnessed.) And where the female whales are, those males are sure to be hanging out with competition pods wrestling it out for whom will be the escort of the mom/baby with the hopes of mating with the female.
 

Southerngirl528

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Oh, and I have seen whales from my lanai while staying at Aulani, though in much, much smaller numbers than we watch when we are staying at MOC on Ka'anapali Beach, Maui.
 

cp73

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Humpback whales can be seen off of any of the Hawaiian islands, though usually not in as large numbers as say, Maui.

The reason Maui is so popular with these gorgeous behemoths is that the mama whales really love hanging out in the Au'au Channel that runs along the leeward sides of Maui with Lana'i to the west, Moloka'i to the north and Kaho'olawe in that mix. The channel is no more than around 300-400 feet deep and the mom's like to hang out with their babies there. (No one knows where the mom's actually give birth. My understanding is that a humpback birth has never been filmed or witnessed.) And where the female whales are, those males are sure to be hanging out with competition pods wrestling it out for whom will be the escort of the mom/baby with the hopes of mating with the female.

Great answer thanks..
 

thinze3

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Hoping to go whale watching myself.

I have an ongoing search now for a 1BR unit at MM1 for next February. I am offering a 2BR BeachPlace President's Week. Hopefully this will come through.
 

Southerngirl528

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You're most welcome, CP73! I love, love, love those cetaceans! DH and I are quite hooked on going in whale season on our trips to Maui now. Yes, it's better time for his business as well, but the whales are so thick some folks call it "whale soup"!!! We get out on the water frequently to hopefully get a good "mugging" from a whale or two. As you likely know it's illegal for a boat to get within 100 yards of a whale but the whales don't know that! (or perhaps they do and they are as curious about us as we are them! LOL!) So there have been many times that our catamaran has stopped to view whales a safe distance away and we've had either those same whales surface near us, or other whales show up to check us out! Amazing!!! :banana:
 

Southerngirl528

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Oh and Thinze3, good luck with that search for MM1!! We feel very blessed to own there. February is a very demanding time at that resort. I've had trouble once or twice booking at the 13 month mark but I know matches happen, so I'll say a little prayer for ya! :hi:
 

cp73

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You're most welcome, CP73! I love, love, love those cetaceans!:

Me too. I have been several times and also try to do Hawaii in the winter. I love to take pictures of the whales. Here is one of my favorites I took in Alaska. They are bubble net feeding. A pretty rare sight.



6-X2.jpg
 
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Timeshare Von

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After 40+ years of T/S ownership, I am no longer "an owner"
I have only seen video of bubble net feeding on channels like Nat Geo. My sister did an AK cruise last summer and they saw humpbacks feeding like this. She said it was amazing.
 

Southerngirl528

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Wow, Cp73!!! Fabulous shot of bubble net feeding!! I have only seen this in videos/pictures. I was hoping to see it when we sailed on the Disney Wonder to Alaska a couple of years ago, but only saw dorsal fins and flukes. :( I do hope to see that one day.

We have some fabulous photos from whale watches off the western shores of Maui. I will be taking a GoPro and a long stick to get simultaneous underwater photos our next trip during whale season! :D
 

cp73

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Just got back from our trip to Ko Olina. We had a great time although I must admit the whales were disappointing. Went out on a snorkel cruise and saw no whales, then went out on a whale watching cruise and we saw some. Probably about 10 in 2 hours....None close up; all from a distance, lots of spray and some tails, and one spy hop. Nothing like the trip from about 5 years ago in Maui. I did also see a few from the shore. I also happened to run into a couple on the way home at the airport who came back from Maui and some whaling convention. They said the whales in Maui were not as good as prior years. They said something about the weather up in Alaska was making them come in scattered and later...They were disappointed in Maui last week also.

Oh well will have to go again next year.
 
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