Pacific Whale Foundation

More late Hawaii posts. As in the aquarium post, I'm lazy and I didn't touch up this pictures. I should at some point, because I can see some of them as black-and-whites that would be quite pretty. (Yes, I just complimented my own photographs, don't judge me!)

During our time in Maui last year, we decided to go whale watching on an eco-cruise with the Pacific Whale Foundation. They seem to be a very dedicated and hard-working organization, and we had read good things about their whale-watching cruises.

Like pretty much every day in Hawaii, it was beautiful, though the weather was quite mercurial. We saw an incredible amount of whales (even the captain and the guide were amazed) and heard even more of them (the boat had a microphone that was lowered into the water, and we could hear tons of them calling to each other). It was a fun day, though surprisingly tiring.

Before the barrage of photos begins, I know all my pictures are crooked. I don't have the software to tweak them (I'm at work right now) and I don't have the time. It was super windy when we set out, so holding the camera steady was not as important as keeping myself on the boat, without falling into the water.

There are little turbines on the top of this mountain. They were so cute, like little toys all lined up. And though they lead to inclement weather, the clouds in Hawaii were gorgeous- puffy, white, soft-looking cotton balls.

I have a strange fascination with God rays, light moving through clouds. I almost blinded myself taking some of the pictures this day, but I will always take pictures of skies, no matter where I go.

I also really love the way clouds nestle between mountains. I never saw it as frequently as I did while I was in Hawaii. The best example, of course, was when we went to Haleakala Crater to watch the sunrise- it was stunning (and I have better pictures of that morning ... somewhere ... and I'll get to them someday).

A whale! Spouting off! Isn't it cute?? I thought the whales, while ENORMOUS, were really just so cute. They seemed playful, in a way. Some of them got really, really close to the boat, close enough that the captain turned off the engine (there's a law that if whales are within a certain distance from the boat, you must turn off your engine) and we could watch them play and frolic...

... And flip up their tails. I know, crap photos of the actual whales. They're actually hard to take pictures of because they move so fast. I mean, really fast. I tried, and these are the best I could come up with.

Cloud of water after a whale had breached. I think this one was from an adult whale- the babies left much smaller, cuter little poufs. The most giant, cute babies ever.

Blinding sunlight, blinding water. I love the ocean for how changeable it is. Never constant, never still. The colors change in the blink of an eye, too, especially in Hawaii, where there are always clouds and they are fast-moving. The color of the clouds and sky instantly change the water, which looks almost black here but looks so blue in the other pictures.

Mid-motion. This was a baby, I think, and he got really close to us. Didn't make huge splashes because he's little, but did move gracefully and beautifully. I wanted to take him home and put him in my bathtub. Except he wouldn't fit.

Waving goodbye with his tail?

Waving goodbye with his fin!

Clouds moving in. I loved these clouds because of how they were colored by the setting sun with that pale orange. The ocean turned much darker and grayer as the sun started to set.

Clouds tinted pink as the sun set even further. I love the color of the sea in this one.

Sunset and the wake of the boat as we sped back towards land, seawater in our hair, faces windburned, but so happy with all the whales we had seen and heard.