Starting the New Year off with a Breach

I started this year off leading a few expeditions aboard the Safari Explorer, UnCruise's flagship 36 passenger vessel. We are currently sailing around the Hawaiian Islands. The cruises are 1 week long and 1 way trips, either Molokai to Big Island or reverse. We hit up Lana'i and Maui on our way. I'm in charge of all the excursions, adventures, and night programs. It is a good mix of kayaking, skiff tours, boating, cultural encounters, education, and a lot of snorkeling thrown in as well. We spend quality time whale watching in the waters of the Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. If we are lucky we have multiple dolphin encounters throughout the week as well. And I can almost guarantee that my guests will get to swim with a green sea turtle or two.

All of this makes for some pretty spectacular trips and draws in a very fun crowd. However, some trips get luckier than others with rare sightings like beaked whales, false killer whales, spotted eagle rays, hammerhead sharks and the such. And while pretty much every group gets to see whales, only a handful really get to see the entire body of the whale leaping out of the water in what we call a breach. Everyone thinks of the Pacific Life Insurance commercial and it is like the holy grail of humpback whale watching.

So, not a bad way to start 2019.