Capturing the Moment

  A huge, 80,000lbs humpback whale leaps out of the ocean in a tremendous breach. I spent last week on a weeklong expedition cruise through the Hawaiian islands. One of my major focuses was on wildlife photography. I had my Canon 5d with an L-series 100-400 lens ready at a moments notice. And we scored. There were humpback whales, different species of dolphins, rare birds, then even rarer birds, octopus, and more. Check out the photos and descriptions and enjoy coming along for the adventure! The shallow ocean waters around the island of Maui play host to thousands of humpback whales every winter. They come to have babies and make babies. We think these breaching behaviors are part of their communication. Although perhaps just for fun. We can identify individual humpback whales using the unique white patches under their tail, which you can see here. There is an online database called HappyWhale.com, that you can upload your ID pictures like this to, and it will let you know if the ...

  Art in nature - the wrapped up arms and spines of a crown-of-thorns sea star. I love spending time underwater. Especially in a place like Maui, Hawaii. I have logged hundreds of scuba dives here, all around the island. This dive took me back to one of the places where I have dove before, a place called 5 Graves or 5 Caves. Snorkel boats come here often, looking for sea turtles. But the snorkeling miss a world of small and unusual creatures living in the cracks and crevices and caves down below. That is why I geared up for scuba diving and went out for a hour-long underwater search for charismatic micro-fauna. The entrance for this dive is down a gravelly path, past a small graveyard on an tradition coastal access trail. It would be very easy to drive right by if you didn't know what you were looking for. The entrance into the water is a small, rocky cove, that can be quite tricky, especially if you have heavy scuba gear and a large camera. The waves surge into the bay, sending th...

 My friend Moser got us the hookup with a Molokini Wild Side trip on my old boat, the Ocean Explorer. Aaron was the captain, Matt and Daniel were the naturalist. We caught some nice weather as the kona winds shifted to North, giving us a chance for a four snorkel day. We went to reefs end, backwall, Secrets at the southernmost tip of the island, and then to Coral Gardens. Not a bad day. Even learned a few new spots myself.     This is some of the GoPro footage I took set to some relaxing music. Enjoy!

  Incredible Snorkel at Mala Pier, Maui This may be one of the best kept secrets of Maui. Just outside the bustling port village of Lahaina, there is an old concrete pier, lying at the sandy bottom after hurricane Iniki wrecked it with massive waves back in 1992. Since then it has become a magnet for marine life. Corals cover the wreckage of the old pier, giving it a bit of a shipwreck feel as you hover at the surface. Fish have come to live in the coral, and sea turtles also call the area home. Today was one of those lucky days were the water was flat calm, the sky was sunny and blue, and the site was uncrowded. The reason this is such a great spot to know about is that you can actually get here without a boat. If you know where to swim out you can easily reach the snorkel site from the beach. I often grab my scuba tank and do shore dives here, although today was all about snorkeling with my guests. And what a snorkel it was! Check out the description below each picture for a litt...