Whale & Wildlife Report | Nov 23-29, 2025
Highlights
Short-Finned Pilot Whales
Blainville’s Beaked Whales
Fraser’s Dolphin
Pantropical Spotted Dolphins
Hawaiian Spinner Dolphins
Bottlenose Dolphins
Oceanic White Tip Sharks
Whale & Wildlife Report | Nov 23-29, 2025
The pelagic wildlife off the coast of Kona continues to amaze! This week we got to spend time with short-finned pilot whales, Blainville’s beaked whales, pantropical spotted dolphins, Hawaiian spinner dolphins, bottlenose dolphins, and even an illusive Fraser’s dolphin. Our humpback tours are almost here, with December 13th being our official start date, but in the meantime we’re loving every second of our offshore explorations.
This week we got to spend time with short-finned pilot whales offshore! These pelagic dwellers dive thousands of feet for food, and when they aren’t hunting, they’ll spend extended periods at the surface recovering from their breath holds and socializing. We encountered pods who were slowly cruising and some individuals who did a few spy hops. Our guests were also treated to a very curious oceanic white tip shark who swam right next to the boat!
We had our greatest Blainville’s beaked whale sighting to-date on one of our pelagic whale watching tours! After the group initially disappeared on a long dive, they surprised us by surfacing nearby and had a total of three incredible surface intervals of the whole pod of 7-8 individuals. They cruised along with us and we noted some calves in the group - a true delight considering the shy nature of this whale species!
So much dolphin activity this week! Close to shore, we spotted several groups of Hawaiian spinner dolphins– who often utilize shallow bays to rest and socialize during the day. Offshore we found a group of Pantropical spotted dolphins with a Fraser’s dolphin in the mix! This particular Fraser’s dolphin has been seen multiple times with our energetic spotted dolphins, who have– as it appears– adopted the Fraser’s as one of their own.
This wasn’t the only multispecies interaction of the week, though. We also got to see two separate bottlenose dolphin and spotted dolphin interactions– one of which being an intense bowriding competition between the two species! To top it off, we also had a few isolated bottlenose sightings, and got to watch them hunt and socialize.
On top of our whale and dolphin action this week, we spotted pelagic bird species including brown boobies, lots of jumping ahi, countless flying fish, and even a stray cooler that we rescued. When we see marine debris and trash on our tours, we remove it whenever possible and dispose of it properly to do our part in keeping Kona’s waters clean!
Upcoming Tours
12/1- 8:30 AM Pelagic Whale Watch
12/3- 8:30 AM Pelagic Whale Watch
12/4- 8:30 AM Pelagic Whale Watch
12/5- 8:30 AM Pelagic Whale Watch
12/6- 8:30 AM Pelagic Whale Watch
Interested in experiencing our tours?
Hawaiian Adventure’s tours provide the best opportunity to explore the Kona Coast and the wildlife beneath the waves.
If you’ve been on other tours, you’ll appreciate the Hawaiian Adventures difference.
