Hawaii -- a whale of a tale

I have always been fascinated with whales, dolphins, orcas, and so was really excited to go on a whale watch excursion with the Pacific Whale Foundation, a nonprofit research, conservation and education organization. They have a naturalist on board during the trip who explains what you are seeing and what the behaviors mean--at least, what they THINK they mean...

Now, here are signs you don't see every day!! You MUST stay at least 100 yds. back from the whales; if they want to come closer than that, that's up to them.
This was a calf, who was such a little show-off. I managed to catch him breaching. He looks small, but is actually about the size of a truck.

The mother is rolling, waving one of her pectoral fins. They are up to 15' long--it was huge. The calf is just in front of her. The mother is never more than 45 yds. from the calf.
Another calf showing off. That tail looks little compared to an adult's flukes, but it is BIG! You can tell it is a calf because the flukes are smaller, and the tail is chunky. Adults are longer and thinner, and bigger.
More tail splashes, with mom following behind. Quite often the mother will support the calf on her rostrum (nose) as they go through the water.
Mom rolls and shows a pectoral fin, while calf dives. These 2 were close enough that we could hear them breathe as they came to the surface. Unbelievably exciting!!
Both fins up!

When it hit the water, you could hear it in your bones. Imagine something 15' long and several feet wide hitting the water at a good speed... The turquoise area just below the calf is another whale, underwater. When they are just below the surface, the water takes on a turquoise hue.
This group of 3 is a female, with the calf behind her, and an escort male. Quite often there are groups of 3, with a male "friend" accompanying, but the male is not the father.
The underside of each whale's flukes is as distinctive as fingerprints are in humans. Whales are identified by the pattern on the underside of their tail flukes.
When the whales dive, a smooth glassy "footprint" is left on the surface of the water.
I would do this again in a heartbeat. It was the fastest 2 hours I have ever spent. It was a little tricky trying to take photos with my 100-300mm zoom on a rocking boat with people jostling around, but it is not something to be missed!!