It’s that magical time of the year again when the North Pacific Humpback whales return once more to the shallow waters of the Hawaiian Islands to mate, raise their young and wow whale watchers. These beloved gentle giants, known in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language) as koholā, have migrated to Hawaiʻi in the winter months through […]
November is when the koholā (humpback whales) return to Hawaiʻi to breed, birth and nurse calves. An estimated 8,000 to 12,000 of the protected marine mammals migrate from Alaska to the Islands’ warm, shallow waters through April, when they head back north again. This year, though, the first North Pacific humpback whale sighting was reported on Oct.
Every winter from November through May, between 10,000 and 12,000 North Pacific humpback whales make the six-week journey south from Alaska to bask in Maui’s warm waters. They’re here to mingle, mate and give birth—and it all takes place just a couple miles off Maui’s leeward coast. It’s one of nature’s most mesmerizing shows, and
