January 24, 2010 Humpback Whales - Lanai Lookout

After Church, we went back out to Lanai Lookout to watch for whales some more. It was very quiet this afternoon. The whales were there, but no aerial displays.

As the sun was about to go down, there were a couple that showed us their flukes in spectacular fashion as they were diving. They were even close enough to get a few good photos.

January 23, 2010 Humpback Whales - Lanai Lookout

This morning we drove back out to Lanai Lookout to see if we could see any more whales. I guess we were hoping to see another display similar to last week's. We were a little disappointed.

Not that the whales were not there and cooperative - they certainly were, but they were much farther out, so the photos just aren't as spectacular.





We even managed to get a couple of shots of a double breach. Had they been any closer, that would not have been possible, so I guess there was one silver lining to the distance thing.












Regardless of how far away they are, it is still fun and spectacular to see them breach and play in the water!

January 18, 2010

Lana'i Lookout

Humpback Whale Breach

This Humpback Whale cow and her calf entertained us for almost an hour. First, she breached, then over the space of nearly an hour and covering about a half mile in distance, she spy-hopped, fin-slapped and played on or near the surface with her calf. All the while I was snapping photos whenever I could anticipate her antics. Right at the end, when she was the very nearest to where we were located, she made an enormous breach and I was lucky to get two exceptional shots. Lana'i Lookout, O'ahu, Hawai'i, USA, January 18, 2010. f/5.6, 1/2000 second, ISO 200.

Humpback Whale Breach

This Humpback Whale cow and her calf entertained us for almost an hour. First, she breached, then over the space of nearly an hour and covering about a half mile in distance, she spy-hopped, fin-slapped and played on or near the surface with her calf. All the while I was snapping photos whenever I could anticipate her antics. Right at the end, when she was the very nearest to where we were located, she made an enormous breach and I was lucky to get two exceptional shots. Lana'i Lookout, O'ahu, Hawai'i, USA, January 18, 2010. f/5.6, 1/2000 second, ISO 200.

January 18, 2010 Humpback Whales - Lanai Lookout

Today, Lauri and I spent a magical hour watching Humpback Whales. I am sad that we did not know about this opportunity over the past two winters, but we know now!

We started the day at Le Crepe Cafe, a little hole-in-the-wall spot we found on Saturday when we went looking for a Mexican restaurant we had heard about. The Mexican restaurant was forgettable, but the crepes at the little place next door were memorable!


This is the proprietor.

We then went on a little drive and stopped first at Lana'i Lookout over by Hanauma Bay. There were a few whales spouting, so we decided to watch for a little while. We saw a few backs and tails.






And then things really got interesting after about a half-hour! This guy breached right in front of us. We missed the first one, but managed to get photos of the next several.








It was pretty much non-stop action for the next 30-minutes.

For about the last 15-minutes, a cow and calf put on a spectacular display!















And then, the finale!



And, just like that, the show was over!

Then we decided to drive over to the North Shore and see some of the big waves, which is where we were headed all along.

This is why we don't dive sharks Cove in the winter!









We always stop at Laniakea Beach to look at the turtles. Today, we found this guy/gal laying out on the sand on the beach.


We finished the day at our favorite Chinese place - On Dong.




A pretty remarkable day here in paradise!