First observed humpback whale of the year seen near Maui

The 2021-2022 humpback whale season in Hawaii is underway after a juvenile was spotted this week near Maui.

Nick Moran, flight instructor and chief pilot of Go Fly Maui, spotted the lone whale Wednesday morning from a helicopter.

“We were doing some training flights, some patterns out at Hana Airport, and we spotted some splashing offshore,” Moran said. “We got over, and sure enough, it’s a little humpback whale. And it stayed on the surface for about another minute.”

Moran and a student were able to take cellphone video of the young whale during their encounter.

Last year the first whales were spotted Oct. 8, and this is around the time they start arriving in Hawaii waters, their winter breeding grounds. The whales spend the rest of the year near Alaska to feed on krill. They migrate to the warm, shallow waters near the islands to mate and give birth.

While it’s not unusual to see the whales in Hawaii this early, juvenile whales like the one Moran saw are often the first to arrive. They may be driven by hormones, according to Ed Lyman, natural resource management specialist for the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.

“They’re teenagers, so to speak. We can start making those comparisons, I suppose,” Lyman said. “They sometimes come down earlier. They’re certainly more unpredictable in that regard.”

Scientists are hoping that the seasonal whale population in Hawaii waters continues to trend upward after a steep drop starting in 2015 and lasting until 2018 — a period when it’s likely that oceanographic conditions affected the availability of krill for feeding.

Scientists conduct surveys to collect data on humpback whales, but tour companies and the public also are important, Lyman said. He’s hoping for more public involvement, particularly when it comes to reporting distressed whales.

“More than 80% of the reports we get come from the public on an entangled whale or a ship-struck whale or information on a sick whale or injured whale,” Lyman said. “That’s huge, so we need to do a better job to make sure we acknowledge that.”

The public can call 888-256-9840, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hotline, to report injured or distressed animals like humpback whales, sea turtles or monk seals.