The Ins-and-Outs of Whale Watching
Every year in the waters between Maui, Moloka’I, Lana’I, and Kaho’olawe from November to May, tourists can view humpback whales who make annual pilgrimages here to mate, give birth to their young and nurse them. During this entire time, the whales visiting here don’t eat anything. Female humpback whales are especially friendly creatures with other animal life, forming interspecies friendships that often last for years and even despite long absences. Until an international law banning whaling in 1966, whalers very nearly hunted humpback whales to extinction.
In 1992, Congress instituted the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary so that these animals could be better protected and so that tourists to the area could observe and more fully appreciate them. The area of this Congress-instituted sanctuary extends from the Four Island area of maui whale watching to the North Shore of kaua’I, to Oahu, to Kona and Kohaka coast of …