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Saturday |
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I heard 'em before I saw 'em--the heavy bass thump of tons of mammal flesh slapping the water, a 2-second lag before the sound reached us high above Alenuihaha. Humpback whales cruise through this channel, a deep one, and they don't usually linger too long on their way to shallower, warmer waters. We see them spout and when it's still can hear their exhalations, feathery fountains erupting from blowholes at the surface. But today they were really going at it. What "it" is I'm not sure. They come to Maui to give birth and breed (not really in that order, nor all at once--some are on their honeymoon, others calving in the obstetrics ward). I'd like to think the several pairs and more we saw today were exulting in a beautiful afternoon, the water here so clear and pure, but maybe they were in competition or just knocking off sea vermin. Whatever the case, from my limited human perspective it was awesome and as primates do I rushed for my camera and clicked, my eye augmented by the powerful zoom. At first glance this might look like a tail, but that's long head and pectoral fin as he or she blasted out of the ocean.... |