First humpback of season spotted off Lana'i

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau

KIHEI, Maui — Thar she blows!

What may be the season's first humpback whale was reported yesterday afternoon by a Pacific Whale Foundation boat about 1 1/2 miles southeast of Lana'i.

The passengers and crew of the catamaran Ocean Odyssey saw the young whale surface three times about 2:30 p.m. during a snorkel cruise.

"A bunch of guys from Alaska were on this trip,'' said Brendon Keaney, a Pacific Whale Foundation naturalist. "They joked that the whale must have followed them from Alaska.''

The event kicks off another season in which Hawai'i's warm waters become the winter home for the giant marine mammals that mate and give birth to their calves before leaving the islands for Alaska in May.

Greg Kaufman, president and founder of Pacific Whale Foundation, said the site of yesterday's whale is consistent with previous first sightings, which often occur in a line between McGregor Point on Maui and Kamaiki Point on Lana'i.

"Our research team has dubbed it the 'humpback highway' because the early sightings take place in that area,'' he said.