Annual hike to Kaena Point

Views along the trail

Phoebe whale watching

  There is a hike leading from the end of the road that is the only way to get out to Oahu's western tip called Ka'ena Point. Every winter we try to head out to see the albatross chicks as well as humpback whales and monk seals. This year's hike started off with a bang. Just as we left the car and got underway Heidi pointed just offshore to a disturbance in the water. Just then a huge mother humpback whale launched itself into a full breach, right were Heidi had pointed to!

Trailblazing

Albatross Nesting Area

  Our good friend Phoebe joined us for this years annual trek. After the huge whale breach the mom and calf took off north, hugging the coastline. So we took off in pursuit focusing on our footing while trying not to miss the next big breach. I had my camera and long lens ready but it seemed that the mom and calf had switched to travel mode. It was all we could do to keep up with them as we speedily tackled the uneven trail.

Laysan Albatross

  We followed the whales all the way to the wind line at the point, but here we switched our focus to the elegant Laysan albatross flying just over our heads. They are a rare bird to see here in the main Hawaiian islands, as 99.7% nest in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. They are so graceful to watch in flight with their 6 1/2ft wingspan, but almost comical to watch coming in for a landing. We could see several adults standing in front of nests but it wasn't until our way back out that we finally noticed some little albatross chicks peering out from underneath.

Baby albatross peering out

Bigger wingspan than me

Elbow Drop

Seals horse playing

  Another animal we almost always see out here is the very rare Hawaiian monk seal. We were pretty shocked to see not one, but four monk seals all together in the same tide pool. This turned out to be the most active I've ever seen them. Three out of the four were play fighting while the fourth was content with just sleeping away the morning. Sometimes it was hard to tell if the seals were playing or actually fighting but in the end they cuddled up next to each other to take a rest. It was quite special to see this interaction and behavior from such a rare wild animal. Ka'ena point comes through again.

All tuckered out