Humpback Whales, Dolphins, and Turtles in Maui
The Hawaiian Islands are a national marine sanctuary for humpback whales since it is the only state where about 5000 of the North Pacific stock of 7000 humpback whales come each winter (December through April, more or less) to breed, calve, and nurse their young. In Hawaii, it is illegal to approach a humpback within 100 yards by sea and 1,000 feet by air unless authorized by valid state and federal research permits. But you don’t need to rent a boat or pay for a guided cruise to enjoy the whales. The can be viewed from shore, often very close to shore. I was once snorkeling at the point of Black Rock in Kaanapali and a humpback whale breached close enough to me that I was covered in spray. I didn’t even know the whale was there till I heard and felt the boom behind me.
Long ago, the humpback whales were hunted and almost put into extinction. On Maui you will find the Pacific Whale Foundation which conducts whale watching cruises and is a leading research and education facility. The Foundation estimates that the Hawaiian humpback whale population grows at 7 percent a year. In the last 26 years, more than 2 million people have gone with the Foundation on whale watching tours.
You can also visit the Sanctuary Education Center at 726 S. Kihei Road for more information on whales. During the whale season, they track the humpbacks in the waters around Maui and plot them on maps.
Some of the behaviors you can expect to see are the head slap. In pods, where males compete, head slaps and head lunges usually become head butting. The spy hop is where the humpback uses its excellent vision above water to get a better look at their surroundings. This frequently happens when passenger boats come near the humpbacks. The tail slap is seen as communicative or an aggressive display. The entire back half of the body goes out of the water before the slap. The muscle at the base of the humpback’s tail flukes is believed to be the strongest muscle in the animal kingdom. There is also the pectoral slap. These side fins are about one-third the body length of the whale, usually 15 feet. This, too, is expected to be a form of communication. Finally, there is the famous breach. The entire humpback body gets totally out the water. It may be way for the whale to dislodge parasites or barnacles; perhaps a form of communication, or maybe just fun.
Spinner dolphins are the most frequently observed 4 dolphin species in the Maui waters. They were named for their habit of leaping above the surface of the water and swirling and glistening in the Maui sunshine. No one really knows why they do it. The Spinners are often seen traveling in pods of 50 to 150. They generally feed at night and will rest on the surface during the day. Dolphins have an incredibly well-developed sense of hearing. The auditory nerve has twice as many fibers as humans. They also have acute vision both in and out of water. The small Spinners are about 6 feet in length, with a dark dorsal cape, a lighter gray middle band, and a whitish belly or underside that often shows as pink when the animal is highly active or excited.
Spinners group together in the evenings and leave the shore and coves and head out to sea to search for food. The largest pods of the Spinner dolphins can be found on the south shores of Maui as they go back and forth between Makena and Kihei.
If you encounter dolphins in the wild, be sure to give the dolphins a choice and let them approach you. Hawaii’s dolphins are protected under the National Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act.
Five of the seven species of marine turtles exist in the waters around Maui. The Hawaiian Green Turtle is the one you are most likely to encounter. In Hawaiian, it is called “Honu.” It is a cold-blooded, air-breathing reptile. When it floats on the surface, it is breathing and gathering the warmth of the sun on its shell in order to warm its blood. It feels vulnerable on the surface. Snorkelers should avoid splashing, kicking, charging, screaming toward the turtle on the surface. They are agile and fast and will flee into the depths quickly if frightened. It is an endangered species and protected under state and federal law. Just give the turtle a little space. It’ll hang around and act naturally around you. I once had a turtle come up behind me and nudge me out of the way so he or she could get to some algae on the rocks.
Turtles eat algae and sea grass. These creatures can live 100 years and hold their breath for 20 minutes. They come in close to shore at night and sleep in underwater caves and coves. An adjustable metabolism enables them to sleep conserving their oxygen in their lungs. Land turtles have legs but marine turtles have fins. Males have longer tails than females, whose tales barely reach beyond their shells. The green turtle in Maui nests in the French Frigate Shoals, about 700 miles northwest of Maui. The female will lay 80-120 eggs but only 1 in a 100 will make it to the open ocean and one out of 10,000 make it to adulthood.
Why are they called Green Turtles? It’s not because of the algae that often grow on the back of their shells. It’s because of the color of their meet.
