Norman The Humpback Whale

Kohala Coast 2009 Whale watch with Adventure X Rafting! This is one of the more remarkable whale watch tours of 2009. This encounter lasted nearly 45 minutes. Norman was affectionately named by the guest on board that day. The engines were off during the entire encounter and as you will see it is obvious that Norman was just as excited about meeting us as were to meet him. At times it seemed he was reaching out. He often was within inches of our boat but never did he touch the vessel. He circled many times passing right beside or just beneath the boat. He seemed to respond when the guest's cheered him on for more. Please enjoy Norman!

Here's the link to a slide show of Norman
link

Aloha! What a wonderful and exciting whale season this year has been! We observed dozens of mother calf pairs so it appears the Humpbacks continue to flourish. We had so many close encounters again this year it is obvious that these whales are losing there fear and are beginning to trust humans as friendly inhabitants on planet earth. I hope we can continue to gain their trust and live in peace with these magnificent creatures. One growing concern of ours is collisions with whales and boats. Last year we bumped a whale while traveling at approximately 17 mph, we immediately stopped to verify the whale was OK and saw it dive with in close proximity. We determined it was an adult whale because we had a good look at it's tail when it sounded. Passengers at the back of the vessel saw the whale pass beneath the back of the boat. The witnesses said they had a good look at the whale and there was no visible damage and there was no blood in the water. None the less it was a traumatic experience for everyone on board, not to mention the whale and myself. Of coarse we reported the collision to the authorities. This year we voluntarily reduced our speed to 15 mph. while transiting to reduce the risk of collisions with our friendly whales and we had five near collisions. We further reduced our speed to 12 to 13 mph. which seems to be a safe speed for them. Currently there is no speed limit for recreational or commercial vessels in the Humpback Whale Sanctuary. We do post look outs and are vigilant in looking out for whales after all it's the worst possible scenario you could imagine while out on a whale watch and we certainly will not let that happen again! We began to wonder though how is it possible for a whale not to hear our boat approaching at such a moderate speed of 15 mph? Are they sleeping just beneath the surface? Has there hearing been damaged? We don't know. I sure wish someone could enlighten me on this. It just doesn't seem to make sense that they are so vulnerable. I say this because we are out here everyday during the whale season and we observe other vessels routinely traveling at 20 to 25 mph plus and I cringe to think about all the young calves, yearlings or just whales sleeping or nursing that are at risk. We wonder how many collisions go unreported? We do know for a fact that Kawaihae Bay is a heavily used nursery ground for these whales and I would support a speed limit during the whale season. So although there are a few whales still here most of them have headed back north to the feeding grounds. We have ended our whale watch tours and are offering snorkeling encounters with our local resident spinner and spotted dolphins. We have a 98% success rate finding and swimming with the dolphins. Come join us for a magical lifetime experience!
Mahalo and aloha, Captain Casey