About the Coastline & the Migration of Whales to Waikiki

Each year, thousands of Humpback Whales migrate from the cold climate of Alaska to the warm waters of Hawai’i. This journey of about 3,000 miles takes them anywhere between 4 to 6 weeks each way. Whale season in Hawai’i s typically between late December and early spring depending on pod migration.

The Humpback Whales visit the Hawaiian islands for two reasons; to breed and to give birth to their beautiful calves. This migration is necessary because the Alaskan waters are unsafe for the calves in their early months of life. The Humpback Whales main predator is the Orca, also known as a Killer Whale. Orca’s typically reside in Alaska within the cold water and prey on both the baby as well as the adult Humpbacks. Aside from this predator, the cold Alaskan waters pose another danger to the calves who do not have enough blubber to keep them warm.

Feeding : Humpback Whales feed on Krill which are tiny crustaceans that, unfortunately, are not found in Hawai’i. As a result, the whales must wait until they return to Alaska at the end of the season to feed. When they arrive they weigh up to 50 tons and by the time they leave the Hawaiian islands, they’ve lost half of their body weight.

Teaching Their Calves : After giving birth, the mothers begin teaching their babies how to swim and help them build up strength for the trip back to Alaska. On whale watching tours, you can often witness them breaching and diving down along the coast.

Whale Tale : When diving down, the iconic view of their tale is on full display. The bottom of a whale’s tail is unique, the same way that human fingerprints can identify them.

If you capture a picture of the whale’s tail, you can submit it to whale identification sites for more information about that whale. They can tell you things like its name, age, and places where it’s been spotted. If the whale has not yet been identified, you will have the opportunity to name it yourself!

Seeing their tail as they emerge back into the water, often signifies that they are taking a deep dive and will often remain underwater for extended periods of time. Full-grown humpback whales can hold their breath for up to an hour while the babies can only stay under for a fraction of that time.

Lifespan : Humpback Whales have a lifespan of about 45 to 50 years and throughout that time they migrate through different areas based on their stages of development.