Blue Hawaii

This painting depicts an adult humpback whale swimming under a young humpback. This is probably the youngster's second trip from the cold waters near Alaska to the warm blue waters of his birthplace.
There is now good news and bad news for these travelers. Once thought ot be nearing extinction, their numbers have grown. They are a common sight in the Lahaina straight now a days and tourists by the thousands flock to see these magnificent creatures. The bad news is that like the Manatees, the whales have increasingly had collisions with boats. The young whales that are born in these waters, need to surface more often and are not as experienced as the adults. Unfortunately they are the most common victim of such collisions. There is now talk of limiting the number of whale watching boats during calving season. So, although, you may not have as much opportunity to see them up close, they are thriving. It's a truly a wonderful comeback story! To learn more about this issue, please click here. ~ Robin Andreae