Whales, Whales, Whales

March has been a fantastic month for whale watching. Any time you look at the ocean you see a big splash or a spout. Last Friday off Polo Beach in Wailea, while snorkeling we could hear high pitched whale noise. On coming ashore were a mom and baby heading south along the coast. The baby was breaching. Mom would stick her fin out of the water. Much further off shore was a tail slapping Humpback with the sound of the impact reaching ous just after we would see the splah. On Tuesday in La Peruse Bay there was a pod of 3 adult Humpback's and a baby heading toward the Big Island at a good clip. Suddenly the lead whale decelerates quickly, floats for a few seconds and turns around. Soon the pod is circling. The Baby spy hops in the middle of the circle. They do this for approximately 30-40 minutes. Staying in the same spot. Circling and diving. We saw this same thing on Wed out off Kanaio in the Alinuinuihaha channel between Maui and the Big Island. This time the pod was the largest I have ever seen. The channel was unusually calm, no white caps and you could see the current lines. A large pod was heading north toward Hana when suddenly they stopped and started circling. You could see light blue bubbles forming in a circle against the dark cobalt blue background. The whales circled and then disappeared for a few minutes and would all break back on the surface at the same time. There were 12 adults counted all together. Further south approximately 1 mile away was a smaller pod of 2-3. Then 2 miles off shore you could see a large splash.

What to do on another Rainy day in Paradise

Maui Ocean Center seemed to be the only option. I think a lot of other people had the same idea. It was pretty crowded. I especially like the Turtles and Sharks. Yes I am a total SHARK fan! Black tip reef, White tip reef, Sandbar, Hammerhead and Tiger sharks. Oh and some big Rays too. Save the sharks... millions are being killed every year. There is a bill in the Senate right now to prohibit taking shark fins and discarding the body. Send your congressmen a letter.

Lots of great fish, a very cool jelly fish tank, coral and educational displays. The turtle seen here is 8 months old. It will be raised until 4 years old then released into the Ocean. Green Sea turtles do not reach reproductive age until they are nearly 30 years old. Their shell is layed down in layers and much like a tree with its rings, the layers of shell can be measured. These turtles can live over 100 years, I believe the guide said one was measured at 150 years old. We spent nearly 4 hours here.

High Surf thrills

We thought we were going snorkeling today. NOT! As we went from beach to beach the waves just kept getting bigger and bigger. It was incredible. We had a great view from the point between Kapalua Bay and Napili Bay. Kapalua beach was actually closed with a crime scene tape prohibiting entry. We had our cone sushi and chili chicken lunch as we watched the waves sweeping past us. Then on to Flemmings Beach where the shore break was head high. Duck finned boogie boarders were getting short crashing rides. Surfers out by the point were riding the bigger waves. Next stop Honolua Bay. The surf was disappointing here so we headed further North to check out the Blow Hole. Wooh! 50 meters high says Axel. Believe it or not, see the little people in the photo, standing right next to the breaking monsters and right near the blow hole. Crazy! We also saw lots of whales off shore. We continued on via Kauhakaloa for a final tour to our snorkeling adventure where we never touched the water.

Planting a field of Alfalfa

Soaring feed costs!! $28 - $35 dollars a bale. Help! What can a horse person do. Nobody is buying horses. Ok, time to grow our own hay!
My goal is to reduce my feed bill by 1/3. I do not want to feed my horses a pure alfalfa diet. Currently they get 5 pounds of alfalfa cubes a day. The rest of their diet is 21 pounds of orchard grass. The reason I feed this way is often we will have a shipping strike and only alfalfa will be available.
I was surprised to find that many cattle business's are growing fresh cut hay. Often feeding #80 per milk cow per day. The hay must be grown close to its daily destination as fresh cut hay does not last more than a day. The sooner it is fed after cutting the better. My friend had a small 20X20 foot alfalfa plot she fed her horse daily from years ago. She lived a mile up the road. Kula Maui has a wonderful growing climate. At 2,000 feet in elevation the nightly temperature is in the 50's. Days 70-80 degrees.
I researched alfalfa seed and settled on Amerigrass 721. A alfalfa designed for the Southwestern States: Calif, AZ and New Mexico. Hybridized to grow with a bigger leaf, nematode resistant, aphid and crown rot resistant.
2 days ago Dad got on his trusty old kubota and made the first pass across the field. 1/4 acre experimental plot. I followed helping remove old roots. Dad used the bucket to rip the stubborn roots up.
Yesterday he made another pass over the field. The beautiful dark red Hawaiian dirt looks great.
Now with rain beginning yesterday we will let the weeds grow for a week or so and roto-till them in prior to planting. Dad wants to roto till in some manuer too. We have lots of that! I will get some pictures soon.