6 humpback whales spotted inside Hawaii's Honolulu Harbor; 1st sighting of its kind since mid-1990s

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Six humpback whales, including a calf, were swimming inside Honolulu Harbor this morning, forcing shipping traffic to navigate around the mammals in the first sighting of its kind since the mid-1990s.


Elia Y.K. Herman, co-manager of the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, said there were reports of two groups of humpbacks — a mother and calf and a pod of four adults — swimming separately inside the harbor.


The adults were last spotted at Pier 2 and the mother and calf were last seen at Pier 35, Herman said at mid-morning.


"We are in humpback season,"?she said. "Their numbers are going to be increasing but this is certainly an unusual event, obviously. They'll go where they want to go. So boaters need to be aware and safe and remember that 100-yard approach rule."


The Coast Guard dispatched the 45-foot response boat Medium to enforce a 100-yard safety zone around the whales, said Petty Officer Anthony Soto.


"These whales are protected under the Endangered Species Act so vessels are required to stay at least 100 yards away from them at all times,"?Soto said. "We are out there to enforce their safety zone."


Willy Winn, the captain of the Ocean Pearl, a 65-foot commercial fishing boat, said a male and female humpback shadowed him and his five-person crew for days as they fished for ahi 400 miles north of Oahu.


"A couple of humpback whales have been hanging around us for about a week," Winn said. "When we started coming back, they followed us all the way into the harbor."


The Ocean Pearl arrived at the mouth of Honolulu Harbor around 6:30 a.m. today and drifted for about 20 minutes, waiting to see what the whales would do.


When the boat tied up to Pier 38, the whales followed, Winn said.


"They know exactly where they are," he said. "It's basically like a big bay. They're fine. They're on their annual migration down south and I think they just happened to run into us and tagged along."


Winn did not know about the reports of four other humpbacks, but theorized that they may have followed the two humpbacks into Honolulu Harbor that had trailed the Ocean Pearl.


Chris Kojima, chief mate aboard the Young Bros. barge Manu O Ke Kai, photographed two of the whales as they swam around the harbor this morning.


"They're lost and one appears to have a pretty good cut on its back," Kojima said.


Dan Meisenzahl, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, said humpbacks last swam into the harbor in 1995 or 1996.


"It's been a long time since something like this happened — at least 15, 16 years — when a whale and a calf came into the harbor," Meisenzahl said.


Tommy Collins, a harbor pilot working off of the pilot boat Kawika, first saw two of the whales around 9:15 a.m. at Pier 30 as he helped move a ship from Pier 31 to Pier 1.


"Two of them were just right there, doing their flops and turns," Collins said. "They put on a great little show."


He then saw two more whales by Pier 2 as the Kawika neared Pier 1 Alpha.


To Collins, the whales appeared to be as long as the 30-foot Kawika.


"They all look big to me," he said.