Pacific Whale Foundation

Here at the Pacific Whale Foundation, we often recieve letters from guests who tell us that their Eco-Adventure was the highlight of their Maui vacation. We 'd like to share some of their comments:

I would just like to tell you how much my daughter and I enjoyed our Whalewatches, from both harbours, when we came to Mauii in our Easter Holidays, (your Spring break.) We had 2 great mornings, and to my immense relief, neither of us felt at all ill!! To see the whales breach, or to see many more, I know that I have to visit earlier in the year! Unfortunately school holidays do not permit this. I eagerly await my photos, even though I know the whales will appear only as specks, but we were there, and I can't thank you enough. Please tell everyone concerned that you are all doing great work. Until the next time,
Regards,

Linda Clarke

PWF tour delightful, careful to follow the law
My family and I would like to extend a very warm mahalo to the crew of the Pacific Whale Foundation boat. Even though the water was unfavorable they gave us an excellent experience out on their boat! They were all very knowledgeable, very polite and helpful! We have been here for two years and that was our first whale watch, and it was a great one.

I am especially pleased with their respect for the animals. We did end up with one resting in the waters near the boat and the engines were put into neutral and we waited until the animal drifted away. Especially after the baby whale that was cut up by some negligent person’s propeller last year, it was a relief to be on a boat so eco-friendly!

Thanks again, you guys did a good job and we will make sure that you are highly recommended to everyone we have coming to visit in the next few months.

Dana Hatt

We just wanted you to know what a good time we had at The (Whale Day) Festival on Saturday, February 18th. My husband, Art and I volunteered at the soda booth from 12:00 to 3:00pm. We had the opportunity to meet many wonderful folks and also some other volunteers that day. The parade was fun and the whole day was well organized and we enjoyed our time at the festival.

I hope that you folks made some good money for the Pacific Whale Foundation. You are doing such excellent work and we support you. We rejoined the Foundation again this year and also took in a Pacific Whale Foundation whale boat. We had a baby whale breach right in front of the boat and followed a competition pod for several miles....very exciting. The crew was well informed and we had Jerry on board and he was wonderful.

You should be proud that the day went so well...being your first time you did an excellent job in putting on the Maui Whale Festival. Thanks for allowing us to volunteer...it was the high point of your vacation this year. This has been our third year to Maui and we were so lucky to have been there during the whale festival.

Let us know how you folks did that day on February 18th. We were very busy selling pop and bottled water so I hope the food booth was successful too. Good luck in future events. We will continue to be yearly members of the Pacific Whale Foundation. You have an excellent web site and I check it out weekly. Love reading about the whale sightings and all the other exciting and interesting events.

Good luck on the whale count Saturday, February 25th...sorry that we had to leave before this event because it would have been fun to volunteer for this one too. Take care and have a wonderful day. Email me soon about the success of the whale festival. Keep up the great work.

Nancy & Art Tucholski

Thank you Dawn! We just arrived back home after our Christmas vacation to Maui (we live in Honolulu so it wasn't far...) We were blessed to have been on the whale trip with LOTS of sightings. We new it had to be an excellent trip when the crew was getting excited about all the sightings and behaviors the whales were putting on for us! Not only that, but when they asked us not to mention to those waiting about our excellent voyage...we knew we had had a very special treat! We had our 2 boys, ages 10 and 8, on this trip. Jason, our 10 year old, claims that as the "best day of his life" and he hasn't ever said that before about anything! And he was seasick besides!
We had taken 2 whale watching tours (in Virginia) and never saw a whale! You were our last and final hope of spending the money to see anything more than birds.... Thank you for the opportunity of a life time! It was the best day of our trip!

Jeanette Lone

Thought you might enjoy this photo. I took it on a sunset cruise on one of your boats out of Lahina on July 18th, 2005. Everyone on the boat including the captain and crew were thrilled with a spectacular show by hundreds of "Spinner Dolphins" while the sun set. This one has been cropped and reduced in size to reduce the file size. I left a CD with this and other photos at your Lahina store on Front Street. Hope you enjoy. My wife and I sure did.

Tom Smith

Dear Whale Watchers,

This is a belated note to thank you for the great whale watching trip last month. Since I had both my 80 year old mother and 85 year old neighbor as guests, I was hoping for a smooth and interesting boat ride. You delivered both! My two "old gals" were comfortable in the stern and were able to make the stretch to enjoy a whale watching trip.

Again, thank you for a lovely day. Aside from watching the whales, the view of the West Maui Mountains on the return is really awesome.

Aloha,

C. Zumwalt

THANKS FOR A GREAT TRIP; KUDOS FOR A GREAT CREW

In early December my sister Nancy Wasserman Miller and I were lucky enough to take a morning whale watch ride on one of your boats. Your crew was superb and I wanted to give them a kudo:
CAPTAIN JOHN & CAPTAIN CORY, ROBYN, LEIGH, ANGIE, BRAD, MICHELLE.

They were all courteous, intelligent, helpful and fun. I was also very impressed with your overall operation. As a long-time advisor to Greenpeace USA (I do anti-nuclear work) the content and orientation were all great. I was also impressed that crew was set aside specifically to deal with an educational program for small children.

All in all, very good....keep the faith...no nukes....

Harvey Wasserman

Hi Guys,

Greetings from a chilly Calgary, Alberta, where the temperature today is -22F with the wind chill. Wish I was back in Maui.....
My family and I spent Dec. 13-23 on your fine Island, and had a wonderful holiday. One of the highlights for us was the Pacific Whale Foundation snorkeling trip we undertook with your crew. The folks on the boat were friendly, courteous and very knowledgeable. The boat was very decent and my little guy (5 yrs old) enjoyed his first snorkeling experience. We even saw a couple of turtles while we were out there, which was a treat. Thanks to the gang for a most enjoyable morning, and congratulations on running a slick operation.

Upon returning from the trip, I went to your offices and spoke to Marsha, who kindly provided me with your email addresses so that I could provide this feedback. All of your crew we interacted with, from the boat crew to Marsha in the office, are doing a great job providing customer service. Please convey this feedback to them, together with my family's thanks.

Best regards and wishes for 2004!
Cheers

Steve Churchill

On behalf of Heald College, I would like to extend a warm mahalo to the staff of Pacific Whale Foundation. Our class traveled to Maui this past weekend and on our last day in Maui, we went on your Molokini boat ride. It was absolutely beautiful, and we all agree that it was the highlight of our trip. Aaron, Josh, Anna, Mary, and Joe were all very hospitable and full of aloha spirit! Thank you so much for such a wonderful time.

Take Care

Alohi Kageyama

Way, Way, Way Above My Expectations!
I have waited 20 years to take my very first whale expedition! My past three trips were cancelled by sickness and work. Finally I was able to fulfill my wish and WOW, did ‘PWF’ come through for me. Povi and Cat were amazing in teaching everyone information on humpbacks and spotted porpoises that I know I will never forget. The facts I gathered taught me vital manual information but also helped with the calm before the storm. That storm was forty five minutes of three huge and playful humpbacks not more that 50 feet from The Explorer, ‘spy hopping,’ showing their flukes, laying on their backs to all kinds of oooh’s and ahaaa’s from all who were treated to this spectacular show! Realizing my quest to view these gentle giants became an emotional experience for me, one I will never, ever forget. Please God, may my pictures come out looking great!

Chandler, AZ

Ed Severance

December 28 was a memorable day for us. While we had gone out on whale watching trips before we had never been on one like the one that happened on the 28th. Could it have had anything to do with the fact that we had just become members?

We had never seen whales passing under the boat with the somewhat mystical appearance they made, nor had we seen their barnacle covered heads come out of the water in our faces. I took a number of photos...
Aloha,

Gary Elster