Maui Whales 2021 - The Male Competition Group

During our second whale watching trip out of Lahaina, we encountered a special situation which we were able to monitor for about an hour. It is called a "Competition Group" which is a group of males that have not yet paired up with a female for the trip back to Alaska and other northern locations. It is a little like a bar/club's last call before closing for the male animals. What happens is that the competition males attack the dominant male who is the current mate. They will bump/ram each other to drive the opponent off from the female. We have seen surfacing males with blood on its side/head as a result of the underwater combat. Typically, a contact between the official mate and the challengers will be made by 1-3 males. Most of the photos show challengers diving on each other or the mate to drive them off from the female.