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View From Here - Hawaii Travel Blog - Whalewatching

Total Number of Entries - 22

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A Whale of March Madness

Kim Steutermann Rogers on Mon 3/19/2012

Destination: Maui

I sat at Betty’s Beach Café on Maui overlooking the water in Lahaina. With one eye, I watched a pair of stand up paddlers wobble on stiff legs as they learned a new sport. A young girl in a pale blue bikini, white sunglasses and blonde hair pulled back into a pony tail got the hang of it. The guy didn’t. He opted to lie face down on his board and float. With the other eye, I practiced “stink eye.”
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Poi Dog Blog: A Cowboy, Vanilla Farmer, Photographer, Philosopher, Whale & Dolphin

Kim Steutermann Rogers on Wed 1/18/2012

Ask someone in Hawaii, “What kind of dog is that?” and they’re likely to say, “Oh, I don’t know. A poi dog.” Poi dog. Also known as “mixed breed.” Or, better yet, mutt. (I like how “mutt” doubles the “t” at the end of the word, a hint at the definition—a dog with an ancestry of more than one breed.) This column—Poi Dog Blog—as I’ve decided to call it, is simply a mash-up of articles I like from the Internet, all about Hawaii and written by a variety of authors. This edition shares stories on herding cattle, a Hawaii vanilla farm, whether Hawaii is "worth it," an amazing photographer and equally amazing tale of inter-species play between a whale and a dolphin.
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In Search of (Toothed) Whales off Kona

Kim Steutermann Rogers on Wed 11/9/2011

Destination: Hawaii Island

A team of researchers is plying the waters off Kona on Hawaii (Big) Island right now. Led by Robin Baird of Cascadia Research Collective, they are in search of whales. No, not humpbacks. But odontocetes—toothed whales. The research project’s objectives are plenty.
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Summer Whalewatching in Hawaii: Part Four

Kim Steutermann Rogers on Mon 8/8/2011

Destination: Kauai

False killer whales. They look nothing like the black-and-white killer whales so well known in the Pacific Northwest and occasionally spotted in Hawaii. False killer whales are dark grey and grow to approximately 12 to 18 feet. Their skull and teeth, however, are similar to Orcinus orca and gave rise to the scientific name Pseudorca crasidens.
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Summer Whalewatching: Part Three

Kim Steutermann Rogers on Wed 8/3/2011

Destination: Kauai

"One animal. Twelve o'clock. Fifty meters," Renee called out. She had briefed me earlier on my duties and stressed the three things that Robin--captaining our Wild Whale research vessel--was adamant about. He wanted to hear 1) animal species or, at the very least, its behavior, such as splash, blow, breach; 2) location on the clock, using the boat's bow as 12:00 and the stern as 6:00; and 3) distance from the boat in meters.
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Summer Whalewatching in Hawaii: Part Two

Kim Steutermann Rogers on Sun 7/31/2011

Destination: Kauai

After a fuel pump or something went out that led to the cancellation of the inaugural day of research, I was invited back on Saturday. It was to be the 600th day on the water over 12 years in Hawaii for Cascadia Research. In the intervening 10 days, the team had spotted, gathered tissue samples and photo-identified numerous individuals from several groups of rough-toothed dolphins. They’d also encountered their largest group of bottlenose dolphins in Hawaii—200 individuals. The highlight of the trip thus far, though, had to be spending about an hour mingling with four killer whales.
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Summer Whalewatching in Hawaii

Kim Steutermann Rogers on Wed 7/20/2011

Destination: Kauai

On my volunteer days at Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge during the summer, I am often asked, “When do the whales come back?” What people really mean is, “When are the humpback whales in Hawaiian waters?” And the answer to that question is November through April. But there are more than just humpback whales in Hawaii.

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A Humpback Whale Visit on Endangered Species Day

Kim Steutermann Rogers on Sat 5/21/2011

Destination: Kauai

At exactly 3:53 p.m. at Kauai's Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge on Friday, May 20, I heard a woman's voice exclaim, "There's a spinner dolphin." I remember thinking that I hadn't see any earlier in the sandy-bottomed waters off Kauapea Beach. Maybe, I thought--it's really amazing how fast thoughts can whiz through your mind--maybe it's a pod coming from the bay around the point--Kalihiwai--and headed out to sea for a night of foraging. I've seen them rest there during the day before, too.
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Welcome to Maui. Welcome to Whale Soup.

Kim Steutermann Rogers on Mon 2/28/2011

Destination: Maui

We boarded a Trilogy's Elua catamaran on the sandy shores of Kaanapali, Maui at 4:00 on a hot February afternoon, as a Kona system from the south evaporated Hawaii's cooling trade winds and vog from Hawaii (Big) Island's Kilauea volcano settled on the islands of Lanai and Molokai to our west. February is known for pretty much one thing in Maui: Whales. Just three days before a whole day was dedicated to the celebration of whales in Kihei, complete with a Parade of Whales, Run for the Whales, Hawaiian music concert, “Made on Maui” market, food--lots and lots of food—and more.

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Preparation Meets Opportunity in Hawaii

Kim Steutermann Rogers on Thu 2/10/2011

Destination: Oahu, Kauai

Yesterday, I walked from one side of Waikiki to the other, from Outrigger Reef on the Beach and nearly to the Honolulu Zoo. I walked out of the sunshine and into a fluorescent room to sit on a straight-backed chair for eight hours. I listened to real scientists toss around phrases like foraging ecology, protozoal threats, cestode egg presence, Allee effects and genetic stock structure. All in an effort to suss out the best way to reverse the downward population trend of endangered Hawaiian monk seals.
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