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Big Breach

>> Jan 31, 2010

Although we did not see much whale activity today, we saw a single adult breach not too far off the cliffs.  It was a treat!

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The Energizer Baby Humpback

>> Jan 30, 2010

Most of the morning and early afternoon we have been seeing a pod of three whales, mother, baby and escort.  They would surface, blow and maybe dive.  They stayed in the area.  Got close to cliffs many times.  Well, oh my goodness if that little baby didn't just start breaching as it moved away from the cliffs.  First one, then another and another and another and another...  I lost count,, but it must have been in excess of 25 times!!!

Scott got the camera, but it was hard to focus and the little guy was moving fast away from the cliffs.   This is the best shot we got.  the baby is on it's way up into the air!

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Humpback whales thriving in Hawaii

Todays local newspaper, the Hawaii Tribune Herald has an article stating that the humpback whale population in Hawaii is up 6% a year.  At that rate, they estimate that as many as 12,000 humpback whales come to Hawaii in the winter.  Maui is still the best island for whale watching.  However, they are around all of the major Hawaiian Islands.  We have seen lots of activity from our sea cliffs this year and the peak is yet to come!
picture of Two Humpback Whale Tails Image
Although I did not take this picture, we have recently seen two whales swimming in unison like these two!
February is Humpback Whale Awareness Month - do you think there is a greeting card for that???

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Kilauea Update

>> Jan 29, 2010

At the disappointment of many tourists, for about three 3+ weeks the lava has not been entering the ocean.  Apparently the lava is pooling on the hillside.  Check out eh NPS Kilauea update report.  Below is a recent map of the flows.

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What was That?

>> Jan 28, 2010

Last night we went outside to listen to the whales.  We heard the typical blow and grunts.  However, in addition we heard a new sound - it was a grrrrrrrr or brrrrrrrrrrr.  Kind of like a motor running.  We know it came from the whales because the sound moved in the ocean.  Hmmmmmmm?

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Early Morning Whale Sightings

>> Jan 27, 2010

We heard the sound and by the time we looked at the ocean, we only saw the surface water markings of breach, dang!   Then we spotted two small pods of 2-3 were only 50-100 yds off our cliff.  We saw backs and flukes as they seemed to glide away...  Hopefully they will back!

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Dry, Dry, Dry!

>> Jan 26, 2010

Who knew that Hawaii County has been under a drought declaration since 2007? Not me!  Apparently, the effects of El Nino are worsening.  We are expected to have dry weather through May.   Folks on catchment water systems are already buying water and some are waiting 2 weeks for delivery!!!

"On Friday, the Department of Water Supply issued a water conservation notice for the hard hit areas of Naalehu and Waiohinu to South Point, asking water consumers in affected areas to reduce their usage by 10 percent."


I am glad that we have a well, but I think that we too could see some issues if the water table drops too low and our pump starts to suck air!?!

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Whales, Whales, Whales...

Yesterday in the late afternoon, we saw our first whales of the day.  I spotted them from the guest shower.  We watched three pods until it was time to make dinner.  One was very close to the cliffs and we could hear the blows.  The other two pods were further out so binoculars were needed. Scott watched a baby breach and tails slap.  Then in the night, we heard the most amount of whale sounds we have heard this season.

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Night Time Whale Activity

>> Jan 24, 2010

Last night I heard whales breaching and tail slapping.

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Westward Bound Today

>> Jan 22, 2010

We took a road trip to the west side today, with the goal of hitting COSTCO!  Instead of going over the saddle road we went up the Hamakua Coast through cowboy country to Hawi and down the coast to COSTCO!

We hadn't been to Hawi in about 4 years and nothing has changed, except that we saw a wind farm for the first time!  We continued south and stopped at two State Parks to watch the whales.  Lots of whale activity, but they were quite a ways from the shoreline and binoculars were need if you wanted to see more than water splashing.  We saw two breaches in unison and one whale must have body rolled and slapped it's tale for 10 minutes.  We finally had to move on...



We stopped in at Hualalai Resort to get a look at the Champions Tournament.  We were not allowed into the resort because of the golf tournament, but we did ask for a beach pass.  So we walked to the beach and headed along the path to the 17th tee box.  No one stopped us.  We saw Loren Roberts and Tom Watson tee off.

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Lunchtime Entertainment

>> Jan 20, 2010

Scott and I were kept entertained during lunch watching a mother and calf off our sea cliffs.  the young calf seems to have learned the "tail slap" technique!

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Whales

>> Jan 18, 2010

After a long day or watching football, (mostly Scott), landscaping. laundry and house projects we sat down around 5PM to watch for whales.  Well, we saw a mother and calf and a pair that continued to dive in unison!  I was able to watch the swimming par from our oceanside shower.  That was a first!

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Hilo Farmers Market makes it to the New York Times















New York Times Article  

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Halema'uma'u is Heating Up

>> Jan 17, 2010


Lava illuminates the night sky at Volcano National Park, Halema'uma'u crater.  Geologist Tim Orr took this photo Thursday night (1/14/10)from the old crater overlook. - Tim Orr/National Park Service

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Helicopter Rescue Yesterday

Around noon yesterday we saw a rescue off of the HPP sea cliffs yesterday on Beach Rd at the county land.  According to the local paper, a 19 year old girl fell 30 ft down the cliffs.  She was air lifted off the cliff with a helicopter and basket.  While I was watching the event from our house, it looked like another fatality!  Glad to see in the paper that it was a happy ending! She didn't even brake a bone, but I am sure she had lots of lava scrapes!

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Baby Breaches Four Times

>> Jan 16, 2010

Around 3PM I was watching a mother and baby off our sea cliffs.  At times the two were only 90yds from us.  There activity was rather passive for a couple hours.  We would see their backs and blows.  Then around 5PM as I was at the stove cooking dinner, I saw some white water.  Well the little one was out of the water breaching.  This is the first baby breach we have seen this season!
 Note:  I did not take this picture!  But this represents what I saw, only the calf I saw was a bit smaller then this one.

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Full Breach

>> Jan 13, 2010

Although we did not spend much time watching for whales today, we did sit down with a glass of wine around 4:30PM and within 5 minutes saw some fin slaps, tail slaps and finally a full breach!  The whale was far from the cliffs, but w could see all of the action without using binoculars.

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Whale Activity

>> Jan 12, 2010

We saw quite a bit of activity today! At one time I saw at least three pods of three each and a singleton!. However, most of the activity was quite passive.  Except for a few fin slaps and another spy hop.  I alomst forgot, we did see two breaches, but they were quite far away.

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Spy Hop

Saw my first spy hop about 15 minutes ago.  Apparently, all the activity we have bee seeing and hearing this AM is from a pod of three whales, the typical - mother, calf and escort.  Unfortunately, I have to start the working part of my day!  Whale watching is time consuming.  After the whales dive,  it can be 10-15 minutes before they surface again (or longer if they are large whale)s.
Note:  Picture compliments of the internet - I was not camera ready!

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Early Morning Whale Activity

We we got up this AM to sounds of a whale; breaching and tail slapping.  Unfortunately, it was too dark to see anything.  We got our coffee and went to sit outside to hear more.  Within a few minutes the ocean got brighter as the morning twilight arrived.  But no more whale sounds.  However, I did see a fluke in the dim light.  I am waiting for more...

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Grunts Only

>> Jan 11, 2010

We hear one grunt in the morning and then one at night.  That's all folks... (:

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Amelia Earhart Anniversary


On January 11, 1935, Amelia Earhart became the first person to fly solo from Honolulu, Hawaii to Oakland, California. The distance was 2,048 miles. The flight was also the first civilian flight to carry a two-way radio.  For more deatil check out this article of the event.  Hawaii Aviation

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Coqui Frogs

>> Jan 10, 2010

The coqui frogs have been very quite lately.  Is it the dry weather???

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Wine Tasting Event

Went to a wine tasting event yesterday in Leilani Estates hosted by Janet and Dan.  Fun time, met some interesting people.  We will probably go to the next International event in February. The new mission for the events is that they include a learning component.

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Tail Slap

>> Jan 8, 2010

At about 3:15PM I saw my first tail slap of the season.  I could hear oooohs and aaaaaaaws from others who  must have also been watching.

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Breaches

Around lunch saw some great breaches.  Scott was in town so missed it.  About 75 yds off the sea cliffs I saw a pod of three.  First it was the big splash on the surface,but I missed the actual breach.  Then I saw the whale breach again and again and again!  No breach activity from the other two whales which I believe were a mother and calf.

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Kitchen Garden

Cool greens planting planWith the high cost of food, the idea of a kitchen garden is appealing.   Although we will probably put in raised garden beds this is a great looking kitchen garden!  Might consider U shaped raised beds. A garden is one of our many projects on the to-do-list!!! :)

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Scott to Test Thumb Today

Scott is off to Hilo Town for multiple activities, one of which is to go to the drving range and test out his healing thumb which he broke playing softball in December.  He is in need of some golf!!!

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Mother and Baby

>> Jan 7, 2010

Saw our first mother and baby humpback off the sea cliffs today at about 11:15AM.  Very little activity especially from the mother.  We figure the baby was nursing and resting...

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Hot, Dry an Voggy

excerpt from the 01/07/10 Hawaii Tribune Herald  



"With El Niño’s influence now in full effect, East Hawaii is experiencing warm, dry weather and heavy vog. And there is little relief on the horizon, according to the National Weather Service.  Speaking from Honolulu on Wednesday, NWS hydrologist Kevin Kodama said the weather station at Hilo International Airport recorded an above-average year for precipitation in 2009, but since Dec. 19, conditions have been unusually dry. So far this year, the Big Island has seen only trace amounts of rain in Hilo and most parts of East Hawaii. Under normal conditions, rainfall at Hilo airport is about 10.5 inches in December, 9.74 inches in January and 8.86 inches in February.  But, “with El Niño in place in the tropical Pacific (Ocean), we get abnormal warming of the sea surface temperatures near the Equator. Patterns in the atmosphere respond to that, even as far as the continental U.S,” Kodama said. “One of the major effects for (Hawaii) is that we tend to get stable and dry conditions from mid-December into spring.”  Kodama said that the El Niño phenomenon can affect weather patterns every few years, with varying intensity.  “The last El Niño was the winter of 2006-07, but that wasn’t really a strong one,” he said.

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Breaches by Day and Songs by Night

Saw some spectacular breaches  and fin action yesterday around lunch time.  Then some great singing later in the evening and some again at 4AM.

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Baseboard Project Starting

>> Jan 6, 2010

Yesterday we purchased our baseboard material and will be starting the project today.  I will be sanding and painting to get the material ready for Scott to install.  Then it will be caulk and touch-up paint before it is all done.  Work, work, work, work, WORK!

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Whale Sounds

>> Jan 4, 2010

Lots and lots of whales noise tonight!  From 7-30PM til 9:30PM and it is still going on!  We walked out to the cliffs edge three times. Scott saw the white water from a breach!

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Mata Ray Spotted!

As I was working on the grass around 5:15PM tonight I looked up and saw what looked like a fish jump in the  ocean!  Or perhaps a spinner dolphin, but I did not see any fins and dolphins are always in pods.  Our neighbor was on his lanai and about five minutes later noted another jump.  Both of us went to the oceans edge to see something swimming away from the cliffs.  Was it a spinner dolphin?  A baby whale, but no blows?! Well, it was a manta ray!  The first I have seen out there.  We have heard that they are sometimes seen in the local waters, but this was a first for me!

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Succulents Arrive


I ordered some salt tolerant succulents from Mountain Crest Gardens in CA.  They shipped free!

I got a black cement dish garden as well as individual plants.  All arrived in tact.  Now I just have to figure out where to plant them!

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Singleton

>> Jan 3, 2010

Saw a single whale around 6PM and I think I "heard" it again around 7:30PM.  But not much whale activity today.

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Gorgeous Sunrise this AM!!!



Then this AM I watched a beautiful sunrise!!! I enjoyed it with a great cup of JAVA!

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Whales at Night

While watching a movie last night (Angels and Demons) we actually heard a whale over the movie sound track!  The night time whale sounds are always a treat!

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VOG

>> Jan 2, 2010

The VOG has moved in and is predicted to be around through Thursday! Yuck!

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Clouds Obscure the Moon

>> Jan 1, 2010

We were hoping for clear skies again tonight to see the 98% full moon.  However, it was not to be...  We were sooooooo lucky last night to see the full blue moon with a clear horizon!



No whales today!

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Blue Moon Event a Success!!!

Well the horizon was clear at 6:12PM last night and a group of us witnessed a gorgeous moon rising out of the water!!!   Most had not seen a moon rise over the water so it was a special treat!  Scott and I are hoping to see it again tonight, just about an hour later then last night!

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Happy 2010!

A new year is upon us!  I still have to make a new years resolution!

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