Welcome Back The Whales!

November 14, 2018
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After spending the summer consuming roughly 5,000 pounds of food in Alaska, the humpback whales are completing their arduous 3,000 mile journey to Hawaii. How lucky we are!

Though we witness these 30-ton beauties every winter, the sight of a humpback whale breaching is ALWAYS exciting. Even folks who have lived here for 80 years still get a thrill from the whales. We love the whales and we never take them for granted.

Recent reports say the number of humpback whales arriving in Hawaii are shrinking and that’s a definite concern. Last year, just 529 whales were counted, down from 984 in 2016. But, the total number of whales that arrive in Hawaii, according to NOAA are still around 10,000, which means the whales are still in abundance in Maui’s waters. The discrepancy in the count numbers is due to that fact that most whales don't venture into the waters near populated locales and the whale counts cited were taken by people standing on the shore.

To help celebrate the return of the whales to Hawaii, here are five interesting facts about the humpback whales' migration from Alaska to Hawaii that you can share with friends and family...

1.) The humpback whales that come to Hawaii are from the North Pacific humpback whale family. There are three distinct groups of these humpbacks: the eastern stock from Northern California travel back-and-forth to Mexico, the western stock go between the Aleutian Islands and Japan, and the central stock migrate from Alaska to Hawaii. The 3,000 journey from Alaska to Hawaii is one of the longest mammal migrations in the world.

2.) Hawaii’s waters provide such an important habitat for these whales that Congress designated the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary in 1992, where the whales would be protected as an endangered species by both federal and state law.

3.) One of the most popular places for whales to congregate is in the waters of Maui County, meaning the area between Maui, Lanai, Molokai and Kaho’olawe. It’s no mistake that this is exact area we take our passengers on our whale watches!

4.) Marine scientists have made an interesting discovery about the order of the whales’ arrival in Hawaii. Nursing mothers generally arrive first in early-to-mid November. The next to arrive are juveniles and newly weaned yearlings, followed by a surge of adult males and females. The last to arrive are pregnant females, who feed in Alaska as long as possible before beginning their migration.

5.) The whales do NOT feed while in Hawaii. They store up enough food in Alaska prior to their journey to last until they return to Alaska in the spring.

To book a whale watch adventure with Hawaii Ocean Project with guaranteed whale sightings**, head on over to our Whale Watch page.

By the way, did you know that you can now save $10/person on our Maui Princess Dinner Cruise or a Snorkel Adventure to the Island of Lanai? Well you can! Just use the promocode VIP20 after clicking on this link: Hawaii Ocean Project Adventures.

** If no whales are spotted on your adventure, you will receive a voucher to book another whale watch adventure.

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