Waiting to board the Atlantis
Guests on a recent tour of Atlantis Submarines Maui enjoyed an extra special undersea adventure – a front-row seat to view male humpback whales competing to mate with a female humpback.
“ It was an amazing experience, definitely the best dive of my 21 years with Atlantis,” said Jim Walsh, general manager for Atlantis Submarines Maui.
Our friendly captain
The submarine dive began innocently enough with the three crewmembers and 32 guests taking in the wondrous undersea beauty and marine life seen off the Lahaina coastline. Halfway through the tour at a depth of 100 feet, a pod of 5-10 humpbacks appeared in clear view of the submarine’s viewing ports. It became apparent to the crew they werewitnessing “ competitive group behavior” by the humpbacks, in which the males were vying forthe attention of a female that was swimming around the submarine.
This behavior went on for 45 minutes before the pod moved off and the submarine returned to the surface.
Amazement in a passenger's eyes
Following is a link to a video showing this amazing undersea encounter, includingseveral shots of the humpbacks passing right beside the viewing ports: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bahhNVb5fw
Preparing to dive 300' below sea level in beautiful Maui waters
Atlantis Submarines has nine locations worldwide including Hawaii, the Caribbean, Mexico and Guam. In Hawaii, Atlantis operates five submarines in Kona, Lahaina, and Waikiki. The company also owns Honolulu-based Atlantis Navatek Cruises, offering sunset dinner cruises aboard the high-tech revolutionary Navatek I, along with seasonal luncheon whale watchcruises from December to April. For more information, visit www.atlantissubmarines.com.
