September and October are the peak months when humpback whales visit our island. We have a group of whales that return each year, migrating from Antartica to enjoy our warm waters for mating and giving birth. This September I saw two whales spout way off shore, but this event only brought back my longing to play whale researcher for a day. Now it was October and both the scientists and the whales would soon be leaving the island, but I had not gotten the opportunity to go out on the boat. With only two days left of the scientists' visit, Paul called me and gave me the news that I on the list for Friday's boat trip. I was so excited that I had trouble sleeping the night before.
Friday morning finally arrived and we headed out in the somewhat choppy waters. Before the first hour was even up, the first whales were spotted. The boat sped over to the vicinity of the spout that was seen and suddenly one of the whales surfaced. As humpback whales are endangered, people should never get closer than 100 meters to them, but given that we were aboard a research vessel with all of the proper permits, we were able to witness the whales swimming literally a few feet from the boat.
We followed a group of three whales for awhile. They gave us quite a show and at one point one of the whales even swam underneath the boat. Each of the whales did a number of tail slaps and I couldn't believe how big their tails are! The whales were so close to the boat that we could have reached out and touched them. It was intriguing to be close enough to hear their breathing. After six hours of bobbing on the boat and lots of puking on my part, we saw a total of 8 whales. Despite my green color, I was so happy to get this opportunity. This definitely ranks up there on my list of amazing things I've done!
Here is a site from the local newspaper that has photos of and by Dave Matilla, the lead scientist. http://www.samoanews.com/Whales2007/index.htm 
