Whale watching, pineapples, and the North Shore....phew!

February 1, 2009

Deanna found this AMAZING boat trip online that boasted about whale watching, swimming with sea turtles and dolphins, and snorkeling. The owner of the company was our captain, and Cara, a marine biologist, was our guide. They were so fun, and very knowledgeable about the marine life and Hawaii.

The trip lived up to it's advertisement! Here are a few pictures from the trip.
*sorry about the brightness of my white legs in this first shot. Pale is the new tan.*
This is us sitting on the trampolines in the front of the boat. As we went over waves we would fly up and down, and then we would all start giggling like we were 5. It was one of my favorite parts.
A view of the island from the boat as we made our way out.
The first thing we saw when we got out was a mom and her week old baby. This is a cool shot of the mom only. Cara told us that the Humpback Whales come to Hawaii in the winter to birth their calves. Then they feed them enough so that they grow 100-150 lbs a day! The mom's do not eat during this period so they lose a couple tons before they head back home. Crazy!
We continued on and found a pod of whales further off the coast. There ended up being about 15 total.

We were excited about these shots!
After a while of hanging out there we headed back because there was word (via the fisherman radio) that Spotted Dolphins were in the area. We found them playing with the whales.
In this next photo, it's hard to see, but there a dozens of dolphins swimming around the whales. In the back there is a tuna jumping out of the water. That little sucker jumped 3 or 4 times! Our captain was a bit more than bummed that he couldn't catch the 80 lb fish. Us girls thought that was funny too. =)All in all we saw about 300-400 dolphins! We were going to get in the water with them but they wouldn't leave the whales. It also happened to be the one day a year where they do a whale census. There was a group of volunteers up on the hill that sit all day and count the whales, so supposedly we were not allowed in the water anywhere near them. That better not have been a fat joke!

On to snorkeling. We were taken to the turtle cleaning station. It's an area near the reef where the turtles go to get cleaned off by the fish. Amy got some cool shots! I'm also warning you that we broke the bathing suit rule this once because it's underwater and blurry. Don't daudle on that photo. Glance and move on.
My favorite pictures of the day...
We all agreed that this was an unforgettable experience!

Now on to the pineapples. The Dole Pineapple Plantation was our next stop. We took a beautifully scenic route toward the north (which is a bit of an oxymoron seeing how every scene you look at in Hawaii is beautiful. I even liked the graffiti. Don't judge.)
This is what a pineapple plant looks like. I don't think I have ever seen one before.
Deanna and Sharna enjoying a lovely pineapple whip, just like the ones they sell at Disneyland in front of the Tiki Room.
That concludes our tour of the plantation. Moving on.

The North Shore is famous for it's surfing waves. We stopped by to watch the surf before heading back home.
Some of us were watching things other than the surf. I'm not saying who, all I am saying is that I wasn't the one snapping these shots.
Out in the distance there was a whale, that apparently was following us, slapping his tale around just beyond the surfers. And that was enough of a full day. We headed home, cold, and got rained on. It's becoming a theme. We improvise because none of us is willing to mess with the stupid Jeep.
Until my next post, Aloha!