As we approach the tail end of the season in the Maui Nui Basin we are now on the hunt for the giant beauties we call North Pacific Humpback Whales.
We will miss seeing these gentle giants in the warm waters surrounding these remote islands. The Humpback whales migrate 3,000 miles from Alaska to the waters of Hawaii to give birth as well as mate for next season. While visiting the island of Maui we see the mother and baby calf exhibiting a collection of different behaviors such as pectoral slapping, head lunge, tail slapping, throws and the world-famous breaching out of the water.
Here in the Hawaiian waters we call a baby breaching a “flying pickle”.
The migration for mom and calf is not the easiest venture. The mother has to be sure that her calf is strong enough to survive the month-long commute back to their feeding grounds.
In order for the mother to know that her baby is strong enough and is able to survive this long journey, she nourishes them with 60 gallons of lipids a day.
-Sierra
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