Students Report: Humpback Whales Wintering in Maui Photo courtesy Maui Adventist School Tucked between the base of Maui's tropical green mountains and the edge of the deep blue Pacific lies the "birthing room" of humpback whales of the North Pacific. This is also the "backyard" of students from Maui Adventist School (MAS), who are attempting to establish the optimum weeks for tourists to view whale activity from a land-based site. Their observations are from The Pali Lookout, one of the most popular whale observation areas on Maui. MAS Principal Dennis Kingma said, "The whales start to leave in March, so that could signal spring conditions in the North Pacific. I wonder if it's just biological—or are there climatic indicators that would induce early or late departure from Maui? Maybe we will find out." On their February 12th, 2001 field trip with the Pacific Whale Foundation, MAS students saw many Humpback whales. They learned a lot about the whales' behavior and natural history. Here's some of their news: Braiden, Grade 7 "In former whale watches we have learned many interesting things about whales. Whales have been sighted within one mile off the shores of Maui. Humpback whales are very amusing and very playful. Whales are enormous in size and weight. An average Humpback whale can grow 40 to 50 feet long and can weigh 25 to 40 tons. Humpback whales are baleen whales, which means they have baleen hanging off their upper jaws instead of teeth. Baleen is made out of the same substance as our fingernails, and they use the baleen to filter their food. Baleen whales feed on krill and small fish by first taking in a lot of water, then filtering it with their baleen and eating whatever is left in their mouth. "Whales come here to the Hawaiian Islands all the way from Alaska. They stay here for only 4-6 months and then go back to Alaska. They come to Hawaii just to breed and give birth, and they stay in Alaska to eat because here in Hawaii there is no food for them to feed on." Photo courtesy Maui Adventist School Robbie, Grade 5 "The first time my class went whale watching, we saw no whales. It was really boring and I never wanted to go again, but the third time we saw 70 Humpback whales in all. Our family has seen whales on our fishing boat before but we have never seen that many at once. On that whale watch, it was definitely not boring. "I found out that Humpback whales only come to Hawaii from December through March. They come to the warm waters of Hawaii to give birth. Humpback whales migrate almost 1,000 miles from Alaska all the way to Hawaii. Another interesting fact is that a whale's tongue weighs about 2,000 pounds. "I think that whales are amazing creatures because of their huge size and their way of living. I am glad that our school goes on whale watches because it gives us a chance to see the whales living free and not being hunted anymore. I wish that I could understand what the whales are saying to each other. Listen to the song of one Humpback whale: Humpback Whale Song Try This! Journaling Questions What might be some reasons why Humpback whales sing? Why do most baleen whales breed and give birth in warm tropical waters even though they travel back to colder waters when the calves are a few months old? Copyright 2004 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form