Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary

*This story was originally published on Nov. 10, 2022.   Every winter, from November through May, between 8,000 and 12,000 North Pacific humpback whales—or koholā in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi—arrive in Hawaiʻi, completing a six-week voyage from Alaska to the shallow, warm waters surrounding the Islands. And who can blame them? The first koholā of the 2025-2026 [...]