Do humpback whales always return to Hawaii?
We don’t know for sure! Some scientists believe that at the beginning of the 19th century the humpback whales wasn’t known in Hawaiian waters. However some Hawaiian chants of ancient origin refer to the “kohola lele” (the jumping humpback whale) in Hawaiian waters. It would be the only known case where whales changed their migration routes. Today, about 9000 humpbacks per year can be found in the waters around Hawaii. That is about 60% of the whole humpback population of the North Pacific. The largest concentration is found in Maui County. Here, the water is fairly shallow (less than 1.000 feet) making humpback communication more easily heard.
