Young whale struck by boat off Maui
By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau
LAHAINA, Maui — A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration official said yesterday they are unsure whether a young humpback whale was injured when it was hit by a speeding boat early Sunday evening.
The collision occurred at 5:30 p.m. about 300 to 400 yards off Puamana Beach Park near Lahaina.
NOAA enforcement officer Paul Newman said witnesses told him they didn't see any blood or sharks after the strike, despite reports to the contrary. Maui police officers responding to the collision report said they saw sharks in the vicinity of the calf and its mother, and some surfers said they saw blood, said Capt. Charles Hirata of the Maui Police Department's Lahaina station.
The incident remains under investigation, Newman said. Witnesses told him the mother whale dove to avoid a 22-foot MerCruiser pleasure craft that was headed in the Ma'alaea direction, but the baby wasn't as fast. The smaller whale was seen swimming away on its own after the collision.
State conservation enforcement officers cruised the ocean in a grid pattern yesterday morning but did not find any whale carcass or sharks in the area, said Randy Awo, Maui branch chief of the state Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement.
At Ma'alaea Harbor, the occupants of the pleasure craft involved in the incident were located by Kihei patrol officers, assisted by the U.S. Coast Guard personnel stationed at the harbor. The operator was identified as a 52-year-old Makawao man who was in the company of another male and two females.
Approaching humpback whales closer than 100 yards is prohibited by federal and state law and can result in jail time or a fine of up to $25,000.
There are no laws about vessel speeds in Hawai'i waters, but Newman said, "people need to slow down."
"There are moms and calves in the water during whale season, and it's a sanctuary. You need to go slow and be alert," he said.
This is Hawai'i's third whale-boat encounter in recent months. A Maui fisherman was knocked unconscious Jan. 5 after his 18-foot boat struck a humpback whale as he was returning to Kahului Harbor.
Less than two weeks before that, a 3-year-old boy died when he struck his head on a railing after a humpback approached a whale-watch boat off O'ahu.
With whale strikes becoming more common, several whale-watch tour operators have begun to better monitor collisions, near-misses and incidental contacts with whales.
"The industry is looking at ways to reduce impacts and disturbances of the whales," said Anne Rillero, spokesperson for the Pacific Whale Foundation, which last month hosted a "Best Practices Whalewatching Guidelines" workshop.
At the workshop, several tour boat companies agreed to maintain daily encounter logs to help gather data on whale-boat interactions, she said.
It is estimated that the North Pacific stock of humpback whales number about 7,000. The animals spend their winters in Hawai'i socializing, mating and giving birth to calves.
To report whale-vessel collisions, call the NOAA Fisheries enforcement hot line at (800) 853-1964. To report an injured or entangled whale, call the toll-free NOAA Fisheries Marine Mammal stranding and emergency hot line at (888) 256-9840.
Contact Timothy Hurley at thurley@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 244-4880.
