January 20 - Morning on the mountain, afternoon with the whales

      We left the house at 5:05 am to drive up Haleakala for sunrise. It took around 45 minutes to get to the top, and the sun was just beginning to lighten the sky.

This is looking out over the big island.

 I know it's hard to see, but this is a photo of the Southern Cross, a constellation famous in southern lands.

 We weren't alone at the top.

 The observatories in morning light.

Here it comes!

 Just peaking above the clouds.

 Mauna Kea on the Big Island, 80 miles away.  You can barely make out the big telescope buildings on the summit.

That's Maui's shadow on the clouds behind Amy and Diana.  Cool.

 Another image of Maui's shadow.

 After sunrise, Diana and hiked a couple of miles into the crater.

      We drove back to the Kula Treat, ate lunch, took naps and showers, then headed out to see Humpback whales.

     This was not our boat!  We went out with the Pacific Whale Foundation on a larger boat with fewer people.  But it helps you get the idea.  Most of the time we were out in the waters between Lanai and Maui, a half mile or so from the nearest boat.  This craft zoomed in towards us while we were near three whales we had discovered.  GO AWAY!
     They say there are 20,000 Northern Pacific Humpback whales.  Half of them spend the winter in Hawaiian waters, and half of those are off Maui.  They give birth to their young here, allowing them to get fat and strong before heading north to killer whale territory.

     You find the whales by watching for their spouts.  They stay underwater for around 7 minutes, although adults can stay down for up to an hour.

You might see them waving at you with their tail flukes.

This adult swam near us, is as long as a school bus, and might weigh as much as 80,000 lbs.

We saw many whales breaching and splashing back into the water.  Most were pretty far away.

      But this youngster, weighing only a ton, leaped out of the water with delight over and over again until he seemed to wear down with exhaustion.

      Perhaps the coolest thing was when one of the naturalists dropped a microphone into the water and broadcast the sound of a male whale singing.  I've never tried inserting a video before.  I hope it works.

     After a couple of satisfying hours on the water watching our cetacean friends, we went back to the dock.

This gent caught a small silver fish just as we docked. 

We stopped for appetizers and drinks at Life's a Beach before going to another restaurant for dinner.

I'm sorry, I know you're getting tired of sunrise/sunset photos.  It just such a good way to begin or end a posting.