Special Visitors

A L O H A !

It is the season 

to see humpback whales

in our Hawaiian waters. 

They migrate here from Alaska

between September and May 

to calve, feed, and relax. 

Some claim that they 

like the local acoustics

for singing !

We expect to see them

breaching offshore, 

so yesterday

was a little wild.

Chris Kojima was working

at Pier 30 in Honolulu Harbor 

(Thursday morning) 

aboard the Young Brothers tug

Manuokekai

when two humpback whales

suddenly surfaced right 

alongside!

 I got blasted a couple times 

by the spray coming of their nostrils,"

he told HawaiiNewsNow

William Winn,

the captain of the fishing boat,

Ocean Pearl,

told KITV that the whales 

followed his boat

into the harbor this morning

all the way to Pier 38.

"Yeah, for some reason they liked the boat.

They just hung with us for like, seven days.

They never left our side,"

said Winn.

"It was neat to have some company out there.

We've been out for almost 20 days,

so it was nice to have something to look at

other than my crew,"

said Winn with a laugh.

The mother & adorable calf 

were seen in the harbor

in the company of two or four

adult humpbacks.

shortly after 7 a.m.

"- whales aren't typically in harbors.

The reason why they're there is unknown,"

said Eric Roberts,

U.S. Coast Guard Marine Mammal 

Response Coordinator,

in typically colorless

science/military-speak.

State Department of Transportation’s

Harbors Division spokesman

Dan Meisenzahl 

recalled seeing whales in the harbor

around 1996.

 "Out of 21 years I've been here,

this is the first time I've seen whales

in this far,"

said Kaipo Pomaikai,

Sause Brothers (tug boats) 

assistant port captain.

The Coast Guard 

which received the report

around 7:45 a.m

dispatched a 45-foot response boat

to establish a 100-yard 

safety zone around the animals

 The rare visitors

completed their celebrity appearance

and left the harbor on their own by 1:45 p.m.

Presumably after saying "Aloha"

to their friend Captain Winn.

Further ashore, it was just another day

" Don't forget to show hospitality

to strangers,

for some who have done this

have entertained angels

without realizing it! "

Hebrews 13:2

 New Living Translation (©2007)

 " What's a whale? "

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your visits here

mean a lot to me,

so I really try to share 

images and ideas

that are worthy

of your time.

Like many of us,

I'm on a post-holiday

mental "blank - out"

So I'm especially appreciative

of these visiting cetations

for giving me a

whale of a story!

Please visit "Comments Cove"

                                                         Warmly, cloudia