Whale watching is a pretty exciting and amazing event to take part in. If you haven’t planned any of these yet, we can help! Choose to pick your tour at best whale watching in Maui and enjoy an unforgettable trip to the mid of the sea and witness this once in a lifetime event. Whales are considered as one of the most diverse entities of the marine ecosystems across the world. This is why, every year, people from various origin plan their trip to witness this magnificent sighting.
But, do you know what all types of whales can you witness when on a whale watching trip?
If not! Here’s something that might excite and educate you at the same time!
Different types of whale to witness during a whale watching tour
Mentioned below are the different varieties of whales, you can see on your whale watching tour!
Sea and oceans are the natural habitats of these amazing species called “Whales”. Let’s take a dive into their amazing world and understand about the various species of this mammal.
1. Blue Whale
Scientifically known as “Balaenoptera musculus”, this majestic whales variety is the most popularly seeked whale. One can easily identify them due to their smooth skin, marked with remora fishes feed, spilled from their mouths. Blue whales are considered brilliantly appearing with a beautified colour combination of silver to light. You can closely observe this the moment it comes close to you. The most noticeable thing about this whale it’s its exhalation sound which is completely unlike any other whale.
2. Gray Whale
Scientifically known as “Eschrichtius robustus”, Gray whales can be witnessed with their 40 to 50-foot lice covered surface with barnacle encrusts. These are mud sucking, bottom feeders and loved by whale watchers. They are amongst one of the well-known longest migrators known amongst the mammals.
3. Fin Whale
Scientifically known as “Balaenoptera physalus”, Fin Whales are known to be pretty fast and sleek. These are the second largest whales known next to the blue whale. The average adults size of Fin whale is 70 to 80 feet. Also known as Finback whales, they weigh around 80 tons. Fin whales, similar to blue whales, are known to be rorquals as have throat grooves that can be seen expanding whilefeeding. They feed on krill and schooling fish.
4. Humpback Whale
Scientifically known as “Megaptera novaeangliae”, Humpback whales are considered as one of the most spectacular and fascinating species to encounter. On an average, they are 40 to 50 feet long and appear pretty energetic during the shows. One can easily identify this mammal due to their long pectoral flippers up to 15 feet high and their dark grey colour.
5. Minke Whale
Scientifically known as Balaenoptera acutorostrata, they are26to 30feet in length and have tall and curved dorsal fins. These are the smallest baleen whales and their skin colour ranges between dark grey to black with white colour patches on the belly. You can even identify them with the distinctive white bands across their pectoral flippers.
6. Killer Whale
Scientifically known as “Orcinusorca”, Killer whales can be instantly recognized due to their magnificent black and white colouring pattern all over. Their tall dorsal fins specially incase of males is also an additional recognition. An average male dorsal fin reaches up to 6 feet height. These whales actually come from the dolphin family and hold the unique feature of being the largest dolphin across the world that can reach the length of 23-32 feet and hold a weight of 4-9 tons as per their gender.
7. Pilot Whale
Scientifically known as “Globicephala macrorhynchus”, similar to killer whales belong to the dolphin family. Their favouritesea food is squid apart from fish. They have the ability to dive upto a depth of 1,000 feet and even more for catching its prey. Pilot whales are generally large in size. An average adult male ranges approx.18-20 feet in length, and weighs more than 2,200 pounds. They stand second in terms of size after killer whales however, they are highly intelligent.
8. False Killer Whale
Scientifically known as “Pseudorca crassidens”, these are also from the dolphin family. False killer whales are generally dark grey or brown in colour with light grey bands on the throat and chest. They are around 15-20 feet long and weigh around 1,500 pounds and feast over fishes and cephalopods.
9.Sperm Whale
Scientifically known as “Physeter macrocephalus”, Sperm whales, on an average are 59 feet in length and weigh approx. 45 tons. They are considered as the largest toothed whale across the world. They have the ability to dive over 3,300 feet depth for their prey. They are also known for being able to hold their breath for more than an hour. This is why, they are the second deepest sea diving marine mammal, next to the Cuvier’s beaked whale. Of the other whales, they are the owner of the largest brain amongst any other animal on Earth.
Which one is your favourite?
