Hawaii’s biggest group of winter tourists, the thousands of humpback whales that migrate from the chilly North Pacific to the state’s warm waters, are back, and they are making a positive economic splash across the isles.
The McGlaughlin family of Liberty, Mo., has seen these giants of the deep on prior trips to Hawaii. However, they paid for an encore on Wednesday. Getting up close to Hawaii’s humpback visitors, which grow up to 50 feet in length and can weigh 90,000 or so pounds, is on their must-do list.
"We’ve been every time that we come to Hawaii," said Sherry McGlaughlin. "We don’t do everything the same, but this is an activity that we repeat. We love being out on the water and seeing the whales."
The family is part of a giant trend. Worldwide whale watching has grown into a big business. More than 13 million people around the world go whale watching each year, the International Fund for Animal Welfare estimated in 2009, the most recent data available. More than 3,000 whale-watching operators created 13,200 jobs that year, and the industry pumped more than $2.1 billion into the worldwide economy, according to IFAW.
While it’s not known precisely how many tourists book whale-watching tours in Hawaii, the state’s visitor industry views it as a significant boon. According to the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, whale-watching in Hawaii, which stretches from November to May, each year contributes about $11 million in state tax revenues and has a total economic impact of up to $74 million.
"Interest in humpback whales in Hawaii includes whale watching and research, both of which add significantly to the local economy to create jobs to feed our families and generate taxes to help our schools and other infrastructure," said sanctuary communications coordinator Christine Brammer.
In 2008 about 50 operators statewide offered whale-watching tours to an estimated 330,000 passengers during a relatively short 120-day season when humpback whales were in Hawaii waters, Brammer said. The sanctuary remains a popular place to watch as the Hawaii whale-watching industry continues to grow, she said.
"It really is a gold mine," said Toni Marie Davis, executive director of A3H, a nonprofit trade association of more than 200 activity and tour operators throughout Hawaii. "The boats go in and out all day long."
While Maui is the state’s top location for whale watching, cruises are available at most harbors around the state, especially from January to March, the peak viewing season in Hawaii, Davis said. To be sure, Hawaiifun.org, A3H’s online booking site, lists more than 40 whale-watching operators across the isles, she said.
Recovery of Hawaii’s visitor industry, which in November broke its full-year tourism spending record and is on pace to break its annual arrivals record in December, has benefited whale-watching operators throughout the isles.
Atlantis Navatek Cruises, which takes Oahu passengers past Waikiki Beach, Diamond Head and along the East Oahu coastline to get a better look at the state’s largest seasonal tourists, is forecasting a good year.
Daryll Hersche, general manager of Atlantis Navatek Cruises, estimated that the company’s whale-watching season, which runs from Dec. 21 to April 14, will be 15 percent better than last year.
"We projected higher numbers than last year, and so far it’s been running true to course," Hersche said. He said the company averaged 145 passengers per whale-watching cruise last year. This year the boats have been carrying 180 to 200 passengers, he said.
"I think we’ll exceed our projections," Hersche said.
In addition to a larger pool of arrivals, the uniqueness of Hawaii’s whale-watching product also has contributed to the growth of the industry. Since Hawaii is believed to be home to the largest seasonal population of humpbacks in the world, Brammer said that gives the state an advantage over other whale-watching destinations.
"Hawaii is the only state in the U.S. where humpback whales mate, give birth and nurse their young," Brammer said. "Hawaii’s warm, shallow, protected waters provide an excellent breeding ground for this endangered species."
The population of humpback whales, which was decimated by commercial whaling during the first half of the 20th century, is coming back in the U.S. due to laws such as the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, and efforts from the humpback whale sanctuary and state wildlife laws, Brammer said. While the humpback is still endangered, parts of Maui, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai and Kahoolawe have become some of the world’s most important North Pacific humpback whale habitats.
"The population is about 12,000 to 15,000, and it keeps increasing every year," said Bill Unruh, lead naturalist for Atlantis Navatek Cruises.
Unruh estimates that about two-thirds of the entire North Pacific humpback whale population will migrate to Hawaii’s waters to breed, calve and nurse this year despite an arduous trip of about 2,500 miles which winds past deep, dark places where predators hide and through giant garbage patches filled with human trash and debris from the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami.
In addition to offering the chance to see more humpbacks, Brammer said Hawaii provides excellent whale viewing.
"Whales come close to shore and are very surface-active," she said. "Also, some viewing locations, because of their high elevations, allow whale watchers to see far offshore."
Hawaii’s conditions are even exciting for avid whale watchers like Unruh, who views them for a living.
"Last Saturday about a mile and a half past the Diamond Head buoy, we got to see five male humpbacks competing for a female," he said. "It was one of the best days. We saw breaching, tail slaps and pec slaps, and the female kept coming in close to the boat."
People who were underwater enjoying Hawaii’s water sports likely could pick up the song of these whales for up to eight miles, Unruh said.
"The males sing a long song of grunts, groans and moans," he said. "They all sing the same song when they are in Hawaii."
While it’s not known how many humpback babies are born in Hawaii’s waters each year, they also are an integral part of the viewing experience. On Wednesday, naturalist Kristina Wellbrock pointed out a 15-foot baby, which likely weighed 2,000 to 3,000 pounds, to passengers on a Navatek whale-watching cruise.
"He’ll grow quickly. By the end of the season, he will have doubled to 30 feet, and he’ll weigh in at about 36,000 pounds," Wellbrock said. "The mothers will stay in Hawaii until their babies are strong enough to survive the long trip home."
Unruh and Wellbrock say they enjoy sharing this kind of information about Hawaii’s humpbacks with tourists, school groups and kamaaina.
Hawaii’s humpbacks used to be most vulnerable to whalers, but in recent times, boat collisions, underwater noise, entanglement in marine debris and degradation of their habitats pose the greatest risks. Whale-watching tourism provides greater opportunities to educate the public and mitigate risks, Unruh and Wellbrock said.
"We have a kuleana to take care of the oceans and these mammals," Unruh said. "They are all part of Hawaii’s total package. We need clean oceans to have clean beaches and all of the nature that makes Hawaii so great."
The good news is that whale watchers often take an interest in conservation after viewing whales either on the water or from the shoreline, Brammer said.
"Many whale watchers become educated about threats to whales while watching them, and the information they learn may lead them to make changes in their daily lives that positively affect the environment," she said.
Children, in particular, are effective at spreading the message, Wellbrock said.
"They go home and teach their parents," she said. "They’ll say, ‘Hey, don’t throw that in the ocean. Go find a trash can.’"
But whale watching isn’t just for children and tourists, said Darrell Harada, a kamaaina passenger. The industry offers something for everyone, he said.
"Sometimes local people forget why we live in Hawaii," he said. "I would encourage others to come out and see these whales. It was so beautiful."
