The picture that many people have of whale watching is that of being on a large ship with the Humpback whales (or other whales) way off in the distance. This is particularly true for those folk that haven’t been whale watching in the tropical mating grounds.

The incredible reality of the mating grounds, like Hawaii, is that it’s possible to go whale watching on small boats (25-30 feet long and right on the water surface) and get a few feet away from the 50 ton Humpback whales. The boats themselves can’t approach the whales within 100 yards but the Humpbacks can, and frequently do, come up to the boat or swim around it. This creates an opportunity for you to get up close and personal with these majestic cetaceans as they glide by the boat. This kind of experience just isn’t possible when whale watching on the larger boats.

There are a number of behaviors that whales will do when close to the boat.

• A Spy Hop is when a Humpback sticks their head out of the water to look at the boat.

• Whales will glide by the boat on their side so they have a better view of the boat.
• The will frequently surface by the boat and exhale. This can be very loud and a little disconcerting if the whale sneaks behind the whale watching boat and surfaces when everyone is looking the other direction.
• Occasionally an Escort will do a tail slap close to the boat to indicate he’s not comfortable with how close the boat is to the female. (You don’t have to worry about the whales hitting the boat.. they are VERY aware of their surroundings and have never hit a whale watching boat)
• The Humpbacks will sometimes interact with the boat by putting a pec fin on it (admittedly rare, but I’ve seen it)

The larger whale watching boats do offer some advantages. They tend to be a bit more comfortable, have more room and serve Mai Tais. So if you’re physically disabled you may need to go on the larger boats. However, the larger boats have more people, so they’re more crowded.

If you want to take underwater photos of the Humpback whales, then the smaller boats are the only way to go. Since they’re right on the water surface, if you have an underwater camera you reach over the side of the boat and start taking pictures. In Hawaii, this is the only way to do underwater whale photography. Hawaii is a designated sanctuary for the Humpbacks, and as such, you’re not allowed to get in the water with them. Reaching over the side of a boat is the only way to get pictures of these graceful animals as they glide through the water.

The other nice thing about the smaller whale watching boats is that they’re much faster and manuverable than the larger boats. This makes it possible to get over to surface active whales while they are still active. The Humpback whales don’t always repeat behaviors or may only do so a few times. So being able to quickly get to a different location can make the difference between seeing a breach up close or a whale footprint.

As a whale photographer, I think the smaller boats are the only way to go. There’s just too many advantages. For regular whale watching, it’s less cut and dried. I think the smaller boats offer a better experience and it’s really exciting when you’ve got a 50 ton animal five feet away from the boat. However, you’re still going to see the whales from the larger boats and they do come up to the larger boats too. The only difference is that you’re 10 or 15 feet above the water surface on the boat deck, so you can’t just put your hand in the water and take a photograph or try to touch them.