Whale-watching is always something of a gamble. These are wild animals, not trained performers. The only guarantee is that if you don’t see whales, you can schedule another trip – not a realistic alternative for most tourists.
So the boat leaves the harbor with the same question on each passenger’s mind – “Will we see whales?”
As the boat hit deeper water, sharp-eyed folks spotted “spouts” far off to port. The boat continued toward Molokai, leading to some discontent. The captain was forced to make a “yes we see those – but we have word of something better up ahead” announcement.
Approaching Molokai, spouts and “bubble blowing” appeared straight ahead. “Is that one whale… or a couple?”
Soon the question was “Is that two… or three… of five?”
It soon became clear the viewers were in for a treat. A large group of males had gathered in what is called a “competitive pod.” There is a lot of mystery about this behavior – most of it takes place beneath the surface. It appears to be a kind of dominance demonstration – but it doesn’t seem that the females necessarily mate with the “winners” only.
The whales swim closely together and are very physical. They bump and race and do head lunges – rising up and slamming head forward into other males. They don’t fight to the death – but they do damage each other. Several of them showed signs of pink on their dorsal fins – meaning bleeding.
It was impossible to count – the whale expert on board thought between 13 and 17 were participating. Sometimes none of them were visible for minutes. Other times many of them would emerge, spouting, blowing doubles, bumping and lunging into each other.
At one point, the whole group disappeared. After a few minutes signs of disturbance indicated they might be swimming toward the boat. Boats are limited in how close they can approach whales – but if a boat is still in the water, there is nothing stopping the whales from approaching closer.
Suddenly, the pod emerged right next to the boat. People on the port side were not in the ideal spots for most of the viewing time, but they were up close and personal at this point!
As with so many travel experiences, words and photos can only hint at the reality. Whales are huge… beautiful… magnificent… A sensitive person can only feel humble in their presence and grateful for the opportunity to spend a little time with them.
