Whales of Hawai’i

The Hawaiian Island chain is the most remote in the world. We have nothing but vast amounts of ocean water between us and the nearest land mass. We also have some of the deepest waters in the world. This equation makes for some impressive whale sightings, all year long. 

Most of you are aware that we are fortunate enough to have the beautiful humpback whales migrate here from Alaska every winter. Why would they come all the way down here? December – April is their mating season, and they rely on warmer waters to mate and give birth. (I mean, can you imagine trying to do either in the frigid Alaskan waters?! I think not!) Unfortunately for the humpback, Hawaiian waters are free of their main source of food, krill. This means the whales only stay here long enough to “take care of business” and then head back to their favorite buffet up north.

What you may not know is that Hawai’i is home to over a dozen other whale species, some which are full time residents. Here are the ones we most commonly see.

Hawaiian spinner dolphins (yes, they are classified as whales) are a nocturnal cetacean that hunt off shore at night time, and use our calm bays and shorelines to rest during the day. This makes them the most frequently sighted whale in our waters. They are still wild animals though, so their sightings are never a guarantee! Spinners travel in pods whose sizes vary typically from 10-150 individuals. Occasionally we will see a “super pod” which can be as many as 1000 strong!  Spinners are a smaller species usually 4-7 ft in length, with babies being the adorable size of a pro football.

Common bottlenose dolphins are also sighted here, although not as regularly. They don’t have the set schedule that the spinner dolphin has so their location is harder to predict. Bottlenose dolphins tend to travel in small family pods consisting of 3-12 individuals, and are 6-13 ft in length.