Capturing the Moment

    Fortune favors the bold…the early bird gets the worm…    Here at Uncruise it should read, ‘never let a little rain hold you back.’         It was a beautiful drizzly grey afternoon as we pulled into Steamboat Harbor in Southeast Alaska. We had just seen dozens of humpback whales out the window during lunch. The conditions in the bay were perfect for open paddle, but with whales just outside the bay and within striking distance of a skiff, I also offered up an impromptu skiff tour for the guests.      Folks looked outside as the rain drops gathered on the railings of the Quests. They peered around inside at the beautiful lounge, bartender mixing drinks, and the library upstairs looking particular cozy for curling up and reading a book. I got the skiff ready and waited for the incoming guests to gather up… and waited… and waited…      One brave guests showed up. And it w...

First Calf Sighting in Maui   It is nearly Christmas here in the Hawaiian Islands and we have been seeing quite a few humpback whales already. Around this time last year I remembered writing a blog post about seeing our first baby humpback calf of the season so I was on the lookout as we cruised through the Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary waters off Maui. One of the passengers shouted out, ‘thar she blows, 11 o clock!”, and sure enough a whale exhalation hung above the water like a little cloud for a few second before dissipating.  Everyone looked on in anticipation to see what the whale would do next. Mom pushing baby   Then it happened, another puff cloud but this time a second, smaller, exhalation was noticeable. I radioed up to the bridge to see if my other guide had noticed and she had. We both waited and watched until we saw the same thing again, and then we made the call over the ships loudspeakers, we had our first baby whale of the season! ...

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...

 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...

A very special encounter. You never know what might swim by.