Just in from the Big Island of Hawaii are a few absolutely outstanding photos of humpback whales taken by retired L.A. City and LACo recurrent beach lifeguard, Jeff McConnel. One of these photos was recently published by MSNBC on its website, as follows:
Per Jeff: "check out the photo credit on the whale article.... scroll down once you get to this site:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41851707/ns/travel-travel_tips/
aloha,
captain jeff mcconnel
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From MSNBC:
* Watch for whales
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41851707/ns/travel-travel_tips/
(Photo above by Capt. Jeff McConnel / Courtesy HawaiiOceanSports.com)
"Whale-watching boats can get within 100 yards of these giant creatures. Several species of whales visit the Big Island waters year-round, but January through April is the best time to see giant humpback whales. Up to 7,000 of the 45-ton, 40-foot-long (on average) creatures seek out the tropical Hawaiian waters to breed and give birth to calves. Humpbacks can be seen surfacing, tail slapping and blowing spouts from many spots on the shore, but for a closer look, join a whale-watching boat tour with Hawaii Ocean Sports or one of the many other companies that will make sure you get as close as legally possible to the visiting whales.
Tip: A good spot to look for whales from land is from Buddha Point (just beyond the dolphin pool) at the 62-acre Hilton Waikoloa Village. It’s on the island’s Kohala Coast, about a 20-minute drive north of Kona International Airport."
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And here are a few more photos by Jeff that he has taken in the past couple of weeks now that the whales are off the west coast of the Big Island for their mating season.
Ever seen a breaching whale ? Well, now you have.
And we've saved the Best For Last. Get a look at the Flying Humpback below !
(With respect to the above photo of the flying/breaching whale, per Jeff: "Interestingly enough, it is believed that the humpback does not start from any great depth for its ascent to breach. The tail or peduncle muscle (the largest in the animal kingdom) produces around 5,000 hp and kicks only once or twice to b...reach!! In short, scientifically speaking: WOW!)
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All Photos herein are Copyright Jeff McConnel 2011. All Rights Reserved. Used here with permission.
Many Thanks to Jeff for sharing these amazing photos of his and his comments. Absolutely Fantastic!
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Until next time.....
"County Recurrent" News
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I had a friend just get back from two weeks on Maui. She said that in all of her years of going to the island (more than two dozen), she had never seen more humpbacks. Tomorrow she is supposed to show me a picture she took of a whale breaching directly in front of the setting sun over the ocean. I will see if i can get a .jpg of it to send.
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