Capturing the Moment

This is something I get to share with people every day during the winter out here in Maui. Well, this exact thing of a whale breaching out of the water is a bit rarer site than that, but getting to see humpback whales is an every day sighting. This is a baby humpback, probably only a few weeks old, launching itself out of the water only 80 or so yards in front of our boat. By the time I snapped this picture the guests on board were locked and focused on this whale as you can tell. Pretty easy to wake up excited in the morning...

Did I mention the whales are here! It is winter time in Hawaii which means Maui has become the epicenter for whale watching. Humpbacks travel 2,500miles from the Alaskan feeding grounds to mingle, mate, and have babies here in Hawaii. The shallow waters off leeward Maui are thick with Humpbacks this time of year. It is a bit nerve racking for boat captains like me but also very rewarding. If you were wondering what time of year is best to see the whales it is now through March.   Whale watches are going out all day, but guest are also seeing whales on snorkel trips, dinner cruises, even kayak trips! What makes this area the best whale watching area in the world in my mind is the fact that these whales prefer near shore waters so they are very close, being Humpback whales you can see some incredible acrobatics out of the water, and the sheer density of whales here right now makes it seem like whale soup! Every day out on the water is different. Being a naturalist and cap...

 Sometimes being lucky and being prepared seem to go hand in hand. As Heidi and I were out enjoying a beautiful Maui winter morning on our two person kayak we saw a young whale, not too far off, playfully waving its white pectoral fins in the air. As we sat there entranced by the playful newborn we noticed it was slowly getting closer. As it did I slowly lowered my waterproof camera into the water, pointing it towards the baby. As the baby neared our kayak I was amazed just how big these calves are. They truly are every bit as big as a small car. That is when a much, much larger dark shaped emerged below us. This calf's ever protective mom had been hiding nearby the entire time. But with the calf so close to the kayak she figured now was the proper time to swoop in and take the calf off to safety. Heidi and I were both shocked to see the mom turn right towards our kayak and swim 10ft underneath us with baby in tow. Just as quickly as we came upon these whales they were gone, leavin...

View from the ridge Wild chameleon found nearby at Twin Falls The more you explore Maui the bigger it can seem. There are so many secret hikes and hidden waterfalls, dive sites, sea caves, wilderness trails, lava tubes, and more. I think even if you are not a water person you could still have endless days of fun exploring the island of Maui. Today after an aborted Peahi paddle in session and a forfeit baseball game we made spur of the moment plans to go tackle the Makaiwa Hike on the road to Hana. I had heard about this hike from different sources and like most of the secret hikes here on Maui, the entrance is hard to find. The beginning of the trail is very overgrown with a lot of crouching down, pushing thru foliage, and avoiding spider webs. Then your view opens up and you realize you are on a steep ridge line looking out over the wild Pacific ocean. Walking further you can see all the way down the northeast coastline of Maui. When you reach the end of the ridge...

Razor sharp teeth line the mouth of this white mouth moray eel. Many divers are threatened by this open mouth behavior of eels but if you do a little research you will know that eels open and close their mouth all the time to pump water over their gills. Often mistaken for sea snakes, eels like this one are actually a kind of fish. Their dorsal fin extends all the way down their back and they use gills to breath oxygen in water. Every once in a while a free diver has their hand sliced open by a lightning fast moray eel bite. After seeing these close ups I am extra glad that it hasn't happened to me!

The visibility at five graves, aka. five caves in Makena had been incredible the last few days so Heidi and I jumped at our first opportunity to grab scuba tanks and kick this new year off right. This is such a great place for green sea turtle sighting but this dive turned out to be much much more. We also usually spot very small nudibranchs here, but on this dive I brought my big lens, a 10-22mm super wide angle in hopes of some bigger creatures. We were in luck! I found this octopus staring out at me from on top of the reef. It was one of the biggest octos I have seen here. After a few pictures of it under a ledge it took off in a cloud of ink. That is when Heidi realized that this octopus was missing some of its arms. Different wounds can be seen on the head and mantle of the octo as well. Their main natural predators are moray eels but this guy was so big that I think he must have had a run in with a hunter of the human kind. People love to eat octopus out here in Hawaii....

  It is becoming a tradition on this blog at the end of the year to wrap up a year in review with some of my favorite pictures and biggest adventures. This past year has been one of exploration into the blue waters surrounding the Hawaiian islands and beyond. Some encounters immediately come to mind like coming face to face with an oceanic white tip shark and nose to nose with a curious monk seal, while others sparked memories as I stumbled upon the pictures and stories of blog posts from 2012.  The year started with humpback whales in full force here in Maui. It was my second whale season which made a huge difference in my knowledge and experience base to draw from as a naturalist with Pacific Whale Foundation. I soon had to start a new pool as I moved into the position of captain on several of the boats. Now at the end of the year I am starting my second whale season as a captain and loving it. It took some luck, determination, and serious underwater explorin...