[ed. We're back -- blogging from Duck Soup's Hawaiian branch office on Lanai. I saw something today I've never seen before - a pod of humpback whales deep in the bay where I go swimming (about six, maybe eight whales with babies in tow), just a couple hundred yards offshore. That's pretty unusual, seeing them in that close (I've never seen it before, anyway), but even more unusual, there seemed to be a lesson in progress. A couple of the adults kept slapping their tails on the water -- not just a whap here and there, but a Whomp, Whomp Whomp...every 5 seconds or so, for about ten minutes. Then the babies tried, except they kind of just went pwack, pwack, pwack. The force of the whomping echoed throughout the bay like cannon fire. After a while the adults rolled onto their backs and began whapping their flukes back and forth (with the babies trying, but ending up looking like they were just waving). Amazing. What a nice way to end the day.]
Photos: markk
