Whale watching season here in Maui is one of the most exciting times of year!

Since Humpback whales are completely wild, all of our Maui whale watching tours are completely different throughout the year, and no two trips are ever the same—we never know what we’ll find!

Even if you've been on a whale watch before (or dozens over the course of your lifetime), every single time we cast off the bowlines there’s the chance to see a new, or different maneuver that maybe you’ve never experienced before.

Our Humpbacks here in Maui are some of the world’s most acrobatic whales, and if you can't quite name all the "moves" you might see on one of our whale watching tours, here’s a guide you can use to decipher just what’s going on in the water.

TAIL SLAP

Vigorous tail slapping is one of the easiest maneuvers to spot on a Maui whale watching tour. Striking the water with their powerful flukes, a whale will repeatedly splash against the water anywhere from 3-30 times.

PECTORAL WAVE

Despite being the world's 5th largest whale, Humpback whales have the largest fin of any animal in the sea. Their pectoral fins can reach up to 15 feet long, which is about 1/3 of their total body length!

For comparison, the world’s largest animal—the Blue Whale—can grow to lengths of 80 + feet, but their pectoral fins are only a foot long—they’d barely even break the surface!

Aside being extremely long, the Humpback’s pectoral fins are also incredibly agile, and help in many of their aerial maneuvers and twisting moves through the water.

We’ll commonly find Humpbacks waving their fins, or repeatedly slapping them on the surface of the water—sometimes up to a dozen times!

SPY HOP

Not seen as often as a pec wave or a tail slap, a spy hop is when a whale will poke straight out of the water to scan what's happening above the surface. Humpback whales have just as good vision above water as they do below water, and here a very inquisitive humpback spy hops to check us out.

PEDUNCLE THROW

While not as common as a full breach, a peduncle throw is an aggressive maneuver where a Humpback whale will throw the latter half of its body completely out of the water.

The peduncle muscle that comprises the back third of the whale's body is the largest muscle in the animal kingdom, and it's the driving force behind explosive maneuvers such as breaches and peduncle throws like this one.

Head Lunge

A head lunge is somewhat like a big belly flop, where a whale will rise about a third of the way out of the water and then splash back down to the surface.

This behavior is most commonly seen in large competition pods, where groups of males who are competing for a female will lunge and splash at each other. Here, a large whales prepares for a lunge off the southern coastline of Lana'i.

Logging

Logging is a term which refers to when a whale is floating just beneath the surface.

With only their blowholes and peduncle fin breaking the surface of the water, it's almost as if they're sunbathing for a moment or taking a relaxing nap.

You'll often see logging when there is a large mother who nursing a newborn calf, or after an extended series of breaches when the whale simply needs to rest.

Sounding Dive

Adult Humpbacks can hold their breath for up to 45 minutes, and you know that a whale is taking an extended dive when you see the tail flukes go vertical. The good news about a sounding dive is that it makes for a nice photo opportunity (and the chance to see the pattern on the bottom of the flukes), but it also usually means the whale is waving goodbye for a while.

Breach

Without a doubt the full breach is everyone's favorite move.There are few words to describe the feeling of watching a 40-ton animal completely lift itself out of the water.

With little to no warning, these powerful animals will propel themselves skyward with only 2-3 flaps of their flukes, which for an adult Humpback, can mean lifting 90,000-100,000 pounds!

While we don't know the exact reasons that Humpbacks choose to breach, theories range from sloughing off barnacles and working out their tail muscles to trying to look around. The most commonly agreed upon theory, however, is that Humpback whales perform dramatic breaches simply because they can.

Of course, the only thing better than a full breach in front of the the boat is the rarely seen, rarely photographed...

Double Breach!

Do you have photos of a good whale move in Maui? Send us photos on our Facebook page, or come and join us for a whale watching tour during the exciting whale season in Maui.

Have any questions about whales in Maui? Leave us a question in the comments below and we'll be more than happy to reply!