Every year thousands of Humpback Whales make the Journey from Alaska to the warm waters of the Hawaiian Islands to play, frolic, and mate. Scientists, photographers, whale enthusiasts, and tourists flock to the shores of Oahu and Maui to catch a glimpse of these magnificent animals as the propel their enormous bodies out of the water and into the air, slap their fins, call and sound off, and perform the ever popular tail splash.
On both the islands of Oahu and Maui you are able to view these spectacular sights from the shore with your naked eye or with the aid of binoculars or a telephoto zoom lens. Maui has much closer viewing than Oahu but both allow great vantage points to take in the action.
Another great way to see the whales up close is via touring boat. These boats take tourists out in the middle of the ocean and get as close as possible. How close? Well, all watercraft are only allowed to get within 100 yards of both whales and dolphins. If by chance one of these animals surface near a vessel the captain must immediately cease to move and if motor powered turn off engines at once. However, there are also other ships that come in and out of ports all day long and without restricted speeds in the open ocean these boats tend to go as fast as possible in an effort to save both time and money.
The unfortunate thing is that sometimes baby humpback whales, being new to the world and not knowing about the sounds of motors don’t dive deep enough and get hit by boats or worse get hit by their propellers. It can be assumed that a boater would intentionally hit a whale. These are massive creatures that would create huge damage to even a large boat.
During the 2006 season of Humpback Whales in Hawaii there have been 5 reported sightings of whales or collision incidents. The most recent incident is a bit more disturbing than some of the others. A Humpback Whale Calf was reported not far off the coast of Maui with a gash caused most likely by the impeller of a boat. It was being carefully watched by it’s mother from below and by two escorts (large male whales usually vying for the mothers attention to mate). At first sighting there were also two Tiger Sharks in the vicinity but those left after a few hours.
The sad part of the situation is that the incident wasn’t reported to any authority or conservation group which most all whale collisions are. The injury to the whale was so substantial that authorities believe the boater must have felt something even it was a large boat. Warning was sent out and persons in the area are on the lookout for such a boat with some type of damage.
Members of the Pacific Whale Foundation were keeping close track of the Humpback calf and want anyone who sights the whale to report it’s location. Following anything in the water is tough especially when there are so many whales in the Hawaiian waters at once.
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