Short Fin Pilot Whales in Maui County Waters

What wonders you might see if you travel where most others do not. I have always heard about pilot whales, melon headed whales, false killer whales, and even sperm whales living in the deep offshore waters of Maui. I decided that it was something I would have to see for myself. It took a long time but I've finally found myself in a place to head out to these offshore waters about 30 miles off Maui over depths of 10,000 feet at times and it has paid off big time.
  The past two times I have ventured out into these waters I've come across pods of short-fin pilot whales. They only seem to live in deep waters. On the Big Island I have seen them just 2 miles offshore but still in 2,000+ ft of water. Here in Maui the surrounding islands/volcanoes are so close that they touch underwater forming a shallow plateau. Cetaceans like spinner dolphins and humpback whales love this shallow water while others like these pilot whales shun them for the deep. Thus they are hardly seen and even less researched.

   My two encounters have seemed to be with different pods. The first a huge pod of about 50 pilot whales and this second time a smaller pod of about 10. With the smaller pod it was easier to follow individuals. One of the 2 big males had very identifiable scarring on each side of the tail stalk and smaller scars all over its body. Two sets of mom/calf pairs were also present. The more pilot whale encounters we have the better our catalog will be and each resighting of an individual will provide a snap shot into its life history.

The activity and behavior varied between pods as well. With the smaller second pod we saw lots more spy hopping and even some porpoising. But both pods did follow a very similar path and at similar overall speeds. The depth of both encounters was around 2,100ft. Also both pods didn't seem to mind the boat but didn't actively search it out like other dolphin species. Here we have seen them twice in two weeks while people living their entire life on Maui have only heard whispers of their existence. Ah adventure...