Hawaiian false killer whales, as you've never seen them before...! Extreme closeups, fantastic vocalizing, and even an underwater smile for the GoPro @ :12 These are the very friendly mom/calf pair HIPc276 and calf HIPc571 from cluster 1, last seen by us on July 18th of this year! They really have been popping up a lot lately this is the 6th time they've been seen this year, and the third island (were seen earlier this year off Maui and Hawaii).

False killer whales share a very similar skull and other traits with true Orca (uncommon, longlived, slow to mature, calve only once every 67 years). However, they are quite distinct from them. For instance, though both are top predators, false killer's rarely attack mammalian prey. And while Orca are quite popular, most folks have never heard of the Pseudorca crassidens false killer whale, or its highly endangered plight.

Here's a few things we want to be sure to mention in reference to our emphasis on research, education, and conservation:

For those of you who have watched the video several times (guilty...we have), you've most likely noticed the scars on the false killer whales – and the spinning prop. Anyone who has spent time with marine mammals will tell you the cause of those scars was another animal. We aren't able to say exactly what kind of animal is the cause of these scars, but oftentimes it is another pod member.

Propeller hits are much more damaging, and sadly, there is no easy fix there – besides being extremely cautious and aware of the movement of nearby wildlife. The wildlife in the video is never in threat of being ran over.

Wild Side is owned and operated by wildlife biologists, who are all too aware of the welldocumented impact vesselnoise has on dolphins and whales. Therefore, on our boats, the exhaust goes above water to create minimal noise underwater, having the least amount of disturbance possible on the cetaceans. Watch the video again and notice that even though our boat is running (you may need to turn your volume up to hear the boat at all), there is no harmful noise level, nor masking of the effort of the whales to communicate.

Because the animals were moving, we paralleled them and matched their speeds to a “t”. If they stop, we stop if they leave, then "Aloha!". In a sense, we were ‘part of the pod’ – and our Wild Side Ohana has years of experience of reading the animals and making sure we keep low impact to minimize the change of their natural behavior – that’s what we specialize in.

There are less than 150 False Killer Whales left in Hawaiian waters, and getting lower as of 2024. That's why it's important to document them – and to raise awareness of the elements that are a threat to these beauties. The main threats are bycatch in longline fisheries, entanglement from fishing hooks and lines that can lead to them drowning, and plastic trash that they ingest. In fact, note that the smiling whale HIPc276 has a scar in the middle of her lower lip. That is almost certainly caused by her being caught on a fish hook at some point in her life.

Go to the source Learn more about conservation efforts, why they are needed and research focused on Hawaii's False Killer Whales @ https://sailhawaii.com/whalewatching...

Video taken onboard Wild Side Specialty Tours https://sailhawaii.com