Day 3 began similarly to Day 1 and Day 2...beautiful weather and excited people.
It took us more time to find whales, but once we did...wow. We found a group of males following a female. They were each vying for her attention in the hopes that she would choose him. One fun comment I heard was that the males dive under the females and start blowing bubbles. Apparently the male that tickles with bubbles the best is more attractive. I knew humpbacks used bubbles for bubble feeding, but this was a new spin. I guess all mammals use what they have to flirt.
We did catch a quick glimpse in the water 2 or 3 times as they raced forward. It was fun to see so many whales.
They did not really want to swim with us, but they did want to play. It started with us following them. They did not dive or try and evade the boat. When we would jump in, they would swim off quickly, so we were only able to get glimpses of them. There were over 5 males who were all much smaller than the female.
The fun thing was that they waited for us to get back into the boat and catch up to them. They enjoyed swimming with the boat...sometimes as close as 5 meters away. They would match our speed, then bolt out in front, outrunning us. They would then slow down so we would pass them just to catch back up. It was a game and we were invited in.
The humpbacks were traveling alongside the boat. They came SO CLOSE. It was amazing. I was concerned a couple of times about the close proximity of the whales. I was afraid we would injure a whale if either one of them or us in the boat took a bad turn. I had never been that close while in a moving boat. But since they approached us, it was allowed by regulations according to our expert boat driver who kept a close eye on their position.
We ate lunch on the boat over by a place called Coral Gardens. It is known as the best place to snorkel in Tonga - a reputation it lived up to! It was stunning. The amount and variety of healthy coral was wonderful. The coral was growing on an incline from 10m up to where the water crashed just below the surface. It was so densely packed that every inch of space was utilized.
The majority of the coral was Acropora branching and plate formations. But there were all different species of coral in every type of shape. The plates were the most impressive as some were up to 3 meters in diameter.
The colors were also amazing...I was shocked at the purple and florescent green corals...colors that I had not seen before.
The fish were fairly scarce. I did see some, but not as many as I would have expected in such a healthy coral reef. I was happy to get a picture of a clown fish and my favorite longfin bannerfish (pictured right with the staghorn coral).
It was stunning and I could have spent all day snorkeling in this one area. I wish I had a weight belt because I was expending tons of energy duck diving down for pictures. I reluctantly left.
Vava'u is famous for its caves. The combination of sandstone and ocean has carved out some interesting places. Two of the popular caves are Swallows Cave, that a boat can drive into, and Mariners Cave which is accessible by swimming. There is also a cave that can be accessed when scuba diving.
We went over by Mariners Cave where another boat was swimming with a mother and calf. There was already another boat waiting for a turn. We found a different whale in the same area and followed him but he did not want to swim with us.
Since we were next to the cave, we decided to go in.
It was a reasonable dive down and swim into the cave...about the length of the boat. Our whale guide went in first so that we would have his fins to guide us as to when it was safe to surface.
It was strange. I went to take a picture and the whole place filled with humidity...so much that I could not see the end of the cave. Then the humidity would disappear and everything would clear up. The cave would pressurize, and I had to keep equalizing my ears. It was strange.
When we came out from the cave, we had about 10 minutes away before it was our turn to swim with the mom and calf. Our boat driver had put us "in line" when we went into the cave. YEA! We were very excited.
The mom and calf had an escort with them. Unlike most of the escorts we had seen, this one was completely laid back. He stayed below and was not moving but was just in view. We could make out his outline but no features.
The little calf was shy. He hid out on the far side of his enormous mother. At first I could not even really see him. I finally spotted an extra pectoral fin and his nose peaked out from around his mom. He was not even curious...just shy.
Because the sun was in a difficult spot for pictures and both mom and escort were relaxed, we decided to swim around to the other side of the mother. She was not just big...she was beefy.
And WOW did she have a HUGE tail. It was probably longer than I am...I was impressed.
The little calf did not know how to deal with us on the "protected" side. He looked for some assurance from his mom and swam up to her head and stayed there with his tail facing us. It was really cute. Eventually she nudged him and he moved to the other side of her.
It was about that time that the escort decided to come up and take a breath. Oh my goodness. He came up from the depths slowly. Sam actually pointed it out to me. I felt like I was right above him but there was no where for me to go as we were right next to the mom and calf. I became very calm...I think the awe/shock took over. I watched him ascend to the surface to my left and the female was to my right with her "little" calf that was longer than I am.
I looked left and right and left again...sandwiched between these two massive animals. I thought I was dreaming. He stayed at the surface for a couple of minutes before diving down and swimming off. The mother and calf followed him. Amazing!
We swam back to the boat and were given the option to swim again. What a silly question! They had not moved very far so we were back in the water in no time.
Something happened to the calf when they swam off and had a little break from us. I guess he felt like we had been introduced because that little shy guy act was in the past. He started by spending time in his "safe place" up by his mom's head but this time he was facing us. He then progressed to swimming around a bit more on our side of his mom. Pretty soon he was swimming around and coming over closer to us. The three of them dove down and he surfaced next to us. It was so much fun to watch. He would look at us, and at one point I raised my arm up and down and he did the same with his pectoral fin. I don't know if it was coincidence or not...but I was super excited that he was waving back at me.
All of the whales were a little more active the second time in the water. They dove down and came straight back up by us. The little calf was leading the way. It was so much fun. I liked seeing all of them down below. We were able to watch the three of them float there...it was like the movie mist with the water and the light...the type they would put in to designate a dream sequence.
When they swam away again, we left them to enjoy their evening and went back. What a day!
That evening the sunset was stunning.
I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of howling wind and the rain pelting down. A huge storm had blown in. I moved things into the closet so it would not get wet. I guess I would find out how the whales would react to a storm the next day.
It took us more time to find whales, but once we did...wow. We found a group of males following a female. They were each vying for her attention in the hopes that she would choose him. One fun comment I heard was that the males dive under the females and start blowing bubbles. Apparently the male that tickles with bubbles the best is more attractive. I knew humpbacks used bubbles for bubble feeding, but this was a new spin. I guess all mammals use what they have to flirt.
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We did catch a quick glimpse in the water 2 or 3 times as they raced forward. It was fun to see so many whales.They did not really want to swim with us, but they did want to play. It started with us following them. They did not dive or try and evade the boat. When we would jump in, they would swim off quickly, so we were only able to get glimpses of them. There were over 5 males who were all much smaller than the female.
The fun thing was that they waited for us to get back into the boat and catch up to them. They enjoyed swimming with the boat...sometimes as close as 5 meters away. They would match our speed, then bolt out in front, outrunning us. They would then slow down so we would pass them just to catch back up. It was a game and we were invited in.
The humpbacks were traveling alongside the boat. They came SO CLOSE. It was amazing. I was concerned a couple of times about the close proximity of the whales. I was afraid we would injure a whale if either one of them or us in the boat took a bad turn. I had never been that close while in a moving boat. But since they approached us, it was allowed by regulations according to our expert boat driver who kept a close eye on their position.
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| Coral Gardens in Vava'u |
We ate lunch on the boat over by a place called Coral Gardens. It is known as the best place to snorkel in Tonga - a reputation it lived up to! It was stunning. The amount and variety of healthy coral was wonderful. The coral was growing on an incline from 10m up to where the water crashed just below the surface. It was so densely packed that every inch of space was utilized.
The majority of the coral was Acropora branching and plate formations. But there were all different species of coral in every type of shape. The plates were the most impressive as some were up to 3 meters in diameter.
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| Clown fish with beefy green Acropora coral |
The fish were fairly scarce. I did see some, but not as many as I would have expected in such a healthy coral reef. I was happy to get a picture of a clown fish and my favorite longfin bannerfish (pictured right with the staghorn coral).
It was stunning and I could have spent all day snorkeling in this one area. I wish I had a weight belt because I was expending tons of energy duck diving down for pictures. I reluctantly left.
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We went over by Mariners Cave where another boat was swimming with a mother and calf. There was already another boat waiting for a turn. We found a different whale in the same area and followed him but he did not want to swim with us.
 |
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| Mariners Cave - with and without humidity | |
Since we were next to the cave, we decided to go in.
It was a reasonable dive down and swim into the cave...about the length of the boat. Our whale guide went in first so that we would have his fins to guide us as to when it was safe to surface.
It was strange. I went to take a picture and the whole place filled with humidity...so much that I could not see the end of the cave. Then the humidity would disappear and everything would clear up. The cave would pressurize, and I had to keep equalizing my ears. It was strange.
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| Snorkeler and Whale Fin in close proximity |
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The mom and calf had an escort with them. Unlike most of the escorts we had seen, this one was completely laid back. He stayed below and was not moving but was just in view. We could make out his outline but no features.
The little calf was shy. He hid out on the far side of his enormous mother. At first I could not even really see him. I finally spotted an extra pectoral fin and his nose peaked out from around his mom. He was not even curious...just shy.
Because the sun was in a difficult spot for pictures and both mom and escort were relaxed, we decided to swim around to the other side of the mother. She was not just big...she was beefy.
And WOW did she have a HUGE tail. It was probably longer than I am...I was impressed.
It was about that time that the escort decided to come up and take a breath. Oh my goodness. He came up from the depths slowly. Sam actually pointed it out to me. I felt like I was right above him but there was no where for me to go as we were right next to the mom and calf. I became very calm...I think the awe/shock took over. I watched him ascend to the surface to my left and the female was to my right with her "little" calf that was longer than I am.
I looked left and right and left again...sandwiched between these two massive animals. I thought I was dreaming. He stayed at the surface for a couple of minutes before diving down and swimming off. The mother and calf followed him. Amazing!
We swam back to the boat and were given the option to swim again. What a silly question! They had not moved very far so we were back in the water in no time.
 |
 |
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| Humpback Calf with Mom |
Something happened to the calf when they swam off and had a little break from us. I guess he felt like we had been introduced because that little shy guy act was in the past. He started by spending time in his "safe place" up by his mom's head but this time he was facing us. He then progressed to swimming around a bit more on our side of his mom. Pretty soon he was swimming around and coming over closer to us. The three of them dove down and he surfaced next to us. It was so much fun to watch. He would look at us, and at one point I raised my arm up and down and he did the same with his pectoral fin. I don't know if it was coincidence or not...but I was super excited that he was waving back at me.
 |
 |
All of the whales were a little more active the second time in the water. They dove down and came straight back up by us. The little calf was leading the way. It was so much fun. I liked seeing all of them down below. We were able to watch the three of them float there...it was like the movie mist with the water and the light...the type they would put in to designate a dream sequence.
When they swam away again, we left them to enjoy their evening and went back. What a day!
That evening the sunset was stunning.
I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of howling wind and the rain pelting down. A huge storm had blown in. I moved things into the closet so it would not get wet. I guess I would find out how the whales would react to a storm the next day.
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