Humpback whale season in Hawaii is just around the corner. Though the official humpback whale season doesn’t begin until December, some humpbacks have been spotted around Hawaii as early as September 16th. I guess they must be just as excited as we humans are to return to beautiful Hawaii.
A couple of years ago, I held a contest to predict the date of the first humpback whale sighting of the season. Since that was so much fun, I thought we’d try it again this year. So, here’s how the contest will work.
- Pick the earliest date you think the first whale sighting will be this year. Enter your prediction in the comments for this blog post. (Sorry facebook friends, but this time only blog comments will be eligible.)
- The closest prediction without going over will win a prize.
- You must use a valid email address so that I can contact you when/if your prediction is correct. Note that your email address will not be visible on the comment.
- In the event of a tie, I will randomly select a winner from the tied predictions.
- We’ll use Hawaii newspapers and news stations as our source to determine when the first whale has been seen this season.
- One entry per person will be accepted.
- Anyone from around the world is eligible to enter. Our last winner was from Milano, Italy.
- Entries will be accepted through October 1, 2010. In the event that the first whale sighting is before October 1, 2010, valid entries will accepted through the day before the reported sighting.
The prize (shown below) is a set of 10 postcards of vintage Hawaii travel posters.
To assist you with your guesses, the first sightings in recent years were:
- 2006 – October 11
- 2007 – October 7
- 2008 – October 8
- 2009 – October 20
So, what’s your best guess for 2010?
Sheila Beal
32 comments
I predict October 19. I will be coming to Maui on 10/19 and hope sometime during my stay to see some whales. I have never seen them on any of my other Oct. visits.
My prediction is Oct 3, 2010. My husband, brother, his wife will be visting Honolulu and plan to go whale watching during our stay there. Hope WE get to see some whales.
I predict October 16. I’m hoping to see some whales on my Capt. Andy’s tour on Kauai!!!
I will predict Oct 12th because it’s my birthday! 🙂
Anytime between Oct 1 & 22 would be fabulous because that is when we will be there!
I’m predicting Oct. 23 because that is the day we saw them last year 🙂
I am going to go with Oct. 10. 10/10/2010 :>)
October 18th. We’ll be gettng in to Oahu about 3 weeks later and I hope they are in full swing…er, swim, by then!
My prediction is October 6th.
I am guessing October 11. That is my birthday and I will be in Honolulu on the look out for whales. 🙂 Aloha
My guess for the first sighting of the whales is October 9.
My prediction for the first humpback sighting is October 14. Can’t wait to hear when they appear!
Sheila, My prediction is Oct 13 for no real reason except it was my grandmother’s birthday. I loved her just as much as I love Hawaii!
Our guess from Italy is October 7th …
It would be nice to win … again 🙂
ALOHA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Laura & Marco from Italy
$1. Oh, wait, I thought this was the Price is Right. :-p
I wanted the 16th, but it was taken so I’ll go with October 15th.
Oct 12- West Maui
🙂
October 17 for no reason at all
October 6, 2010
Hi Sheila, the whales will show up off of Maui at 8:26 am October 20th, 2010- I have heard this from the source!… rjs
The date October 28 popped into my mind while reading about the contest, so that’s my guess! We just got back from Maui, so getting emails from GoVisitHawaii is great- keeps the memories going! Thanks!
October 10th. 10/10/10 is my birthday and 10th year as a breast cancer survivor! Makes me appreciate Hawaii all the more!!!!
I was going to say October 16th, but I’ll change it to October 21.
My prediction date is for October 30, 2010, which also happens to be my birthday.
October 9
October17!
I believe the Humpbacks will be seen on 10/08/10, at 6:58AM
I saw the splash and several spouts but not the animal itself today! October 10, 2010 at approximately 4:30 pm.
Christine – how exciting! Where did you see this splash and spouts?
The first humpback was seen today, October 20th at 9:35aam. The whale was spotted about 2.3 miles off the Maui coast. Now I need to figure out who our winner is.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/105379018.html
And, the winner is Jerry Sullivan! He prediction was so accurate that it was only off by 69 minutes. Well done, Jerry!
https://govisithawaii.com/2010/10/21/humpbacks-are-back-in-hawaii/
I predict Oct. 15th at 12:05
oct 27 th 8 am 2019