» Photo gallery: Whales dazzle and delight at Honolulu Harbor
» Photo gallery: Humpback whales at Honolulu Harbor
Passengers on two whale-watching ships didn’t have to travel far to spot humpback whales Thursday after the mammals entered Honolulu Harbor and swam right alongside the ships.
"It was unexpected," said Charlie Barrows of Morrison, Colo., who was aboard the Navatek I with his wife, Nyleen, when a humpback whale swam right next to, and under, the vessel.
"It was thrilling, exciting, breathtaking," Nyleen Barrows said.
About 50 people, including workers in downtown Honolulu and diners in restaurants at Aloha Tower Marketplace, darted to Pier 8 as word spread via the Internet of the rare humpback whale sightings inside the harbor.
A couple from Philadelphia had front-row seats from their table at Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant when the backs of two whales surfaced about 50 feet from the pier. Kristen Rex and her fiance, Sean Berk, had just stepped off the Star of Honolulu after a morning whale-watching cruise. As they drank their beers, Rex saw two whales.
The couple said the sighting from their table at the restaurant was way better than their morning cruise off of Diamond Head hours earlier.
"We went on a whale-watching tour and barely saw anything," said Berk, adding they saw the spray and the tail of one of the whales from Gordon Biersch.
The whales swam toward the Star of Honolulu at Pier 8 and got to about 10 to 15 feet from shore, between the Falls of Clyde and the Star. About 40 people with their cameras and smartphones dashed down the walkway to get a closer view of the mammals. As they waited, two whales surfaced side by side, giving onlookers a detailed look at the bumps on their backs at 11:31 a.m. A couple of minutes later, one of the whales extended its flipper above the water.
"That was awesome!" exclaimed Barbara Paikuli of Weston Solutions, who darted down 23 floors from a conference room at the Davies Pacific Center to Aloha Tower after she and her co-workers saw the whales swimming in the harbor. "I’ve lived here all my life, and I’ve never seen one, not up close," said Paikuli, 64.
About 160 excited passengers aboard the Star of Honolulu’s second whale-watching tour of the day lined the boat’s railings to take photos of the whales while the ship was still docked at the pier. This ship’s captain, Vern Hinkley, said the mammals were "mugging" his vessel and the Navatek, a term used by boaters when a whale swims next to or under a vessel, restricting its movement.
Hinkley estimated each of the two whales to be about 40 feet long and believes both are males. According to Heide Weber, a marine biologist and whale-watch manager aboard the Star, the average size of a male humpback whale is 43 feet, while the average size of a female humpback whale is 45 feet.
Hinkley said, "They were just two curious males." During eight years with the Star, Hinkley said, he had never seen humpback whales swim up to the pier. "It’s certainly something I will never forget."
