They’re back! The onset of MauiĆ¢ā¬ā¢s whale season has whale enthusiasts brimming with excitement as new sightings appear on the horizon. The first humpback whale sightings of the season were reported in the four-island region of Maui County. Several vessels reported sighting whales around LanaĆ¢ā¬Ėi and between LanaĆ¢ā¬Ėi and Lahaina during the second week of October.TheyĆ¢ā¬ā¢re back!
These first sighting reports are well within the range of first reported humpback whale sightings in Maui County. Last year, MauiĆ¢ā¬ā¢s first reported humpback whale of the season took place on Oct. 11, around 4:30 p.m. about two to three miles off the coast of KaĆ¢ā¬Ėanapali.
Ć¢ā¬ÅI look forward to this time of year every year because we get to see whales,Ć¢ā¬Ā said Naturalist Jeannine Copp. Ć¢ā¬ÅHumpback whales migrate from Alaska to Maui. ItĆ¢ā¬ā¢s amazing they swim all the way here and they donĆ¢ā¬ā¢t eat during the trip or when theyĆ¢ā¬ā¢re here. They divide their lives between their kitchen in Alaska and bedroom in Maui. I try to get my friends from the Mainland to come visit me during whale season because thatĆ¢ā¬ā¢s the best part of being on Maui.Ć¢ā¬Ā
According to Pacific Whale Foundation, the humpback whales that come to HawaiĆ¢ā¬Ėi travel a distance of about 2,500 to 3,000 miles from their summer feeding areas near Alaska. While in HawaiĆ¢ā¬Ėi, the whales mate and give birth to calves.
Ć¢ā¬ÅThe whales donĆ¢ā¬ā¢t arrive at once, but rather flow in and out of HawaiĆ¢ā¬ĖiĆ¢ā¬ā¢s waters throughout the winter, often with the greatest number of whale sightings during the months of February and March,Ć¢ā¬Ā said Anne Rillero, communications director at Pacific Whale Foundation.
This post (including the photo) is an excerpt from the article at Maui Weekly. Click here to go to their site for the full article.
I’m so excited to find your blog. My husband and I are coming to Maui in March to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. (It was in July, but we have had to wait a bit for health issues.) We were glad to hear that the whales were likely to still be around when we’re there in March. I can’t wait to read more here as you ‘talk story’. And of course I can’t wait to come to Maui!!
We were in Maui last January and we saw ton of Whales. We went whale watching with the Pacific Whale Foundation and my daughter still talks abou it…she’s only 2 1/2 so I am not sure how she remembers but it made a HUGE impression on her!
i never been to hawaii, but i hope to visit there someday, hopefully next year if budget permit!
I’m in Kona and we’ve been watching the water for our first whale sighting of the year. So far, we haven’t spotted any.
Kris
http://paradisefound.homeschooljournal.net/
I always loved whale watching, but hated trying to get to work when the whales were “in town”. We lived in Kahana and I worked in Kihei. I remember so many times being behind a tourist that would completely stop on the road in front of me because they were whale watching as they drove along. I squeaked into work just in the nick of time quite a few mornings.