Whenever we go on vacation, we try to find either a photo safari or a food tour which allows us to learn something about the place we are visiting. We were able to find a whale photo safarai tour with Pacific Whale Foundation. The foundation’s purpose is to protect the oceans through science and advocacy.
We got to the harbour at 7:30am and very quickly found our boat, the Ocean Adventurer. They use something called a zodiac boat. What is nice about this type of boat is that it’s small (holds up to twenty people) and because of it’s size, this allows them to be able to very quicky change direction at a moment’s notice. We were able to board pretty quickly since there were only eight other people on the tour. Besides the passengers, the crew consisted of the captain, two marine biologists and a professional photographer who came around to everyone to see what type of camera you were using and to give you some tips.
We were out about a half an hour when we were fortunate enough to come upon a whale. Chris (marine biologist) said that this was a yearling and that he/she had just recently left his mother. Lucky for us, this whale was pretty active including breaching three times. At one point, he/she came pretty close to the boat. We did see one other whale right at the very end of the tour but there was no breaching by him/her.
By the time we got back and checked out the crafts at The Banyan Tree, we were getting hungry. We decided to go to Aloha Mixed Plate and had the first of many meals there. We needed to get Karen added to the car rental so we drove back to the airport to take care of that. We also stopped by Costco to see if they had any beach chairs (which they didn’t). We both were really tired so we went back to the condo to relax on the lanai.
This morning while we were waiting, the photographer told us about the Full Moon Cruise. This tour only happens one day a month and it’s narrated by Harriett Witt, an international award winning astronomy writer. We thought that we should take advantage of this tour. Before we headed back to Lahaina, we picked up dinner from Fish Market Maui. We each had the Mac Crusted Mahi Mahi but I had it with Pineapple Salsa and Karen had it with Mango Salsa.
The Full Moon Cruise was so much fun. We probably cruised out about 20 minutes and then the captain turned off the boat and all of the lights. Harriett then came aboard the microphone and spent the next hour explaining so many things. She talked/pointed out all of the stars including how they got their names, how the tide and the moon are connected and many many more things that I forgot.
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