Yay! Yay! Yay! The first humpback whales have arrived back in Hawaii this week. Though the “official” season doesn’t start until November/December it’s not uncommon to see these amazing creatures splashing around in Hawaii’s waters this early in October.
As you may recall, we had a little contest to predict the first whale arrival. The Honolulu Advertiser and Maui News both issued articles yesterday saying that humpback whales had been seen a few miles from Lahaina’s shore off Maui on Wednesday, October 8th. The Advertiser article also mentions that whales had been seen earlier in the week off the Big Island but no specific date was given. Since the Advertiser article was the first news article that I saw reporting the arrival, I’ll use it as our official contest source. For the purposes of declaring the winner of our contest, let’s say the official arrival was October 8th.
With October 8th as our official date, that make Marco our contest winner. Marco lives in Milano, Italy. Wow, that’s a long ways from Hawaii!
Thank you to everyone who participated in the contest. There were some very close guesses and interesting logic behind the choices. I love hosting contests. Do you have a suggestion for the next contest?
Many thanks to pmaile who commented with a link to the Honolulu Advertiser’s article reporting the first official sighting. A big mahalo also to David who commented with the Maui News article link within minutes of pmaile’s comment! You both rock!
Sheila Beal
Andy Beal
3 comments
Dear Sheila , THANK YOU SO MUCH for the wonderful prize in your contest about the first whale spotted in Hawaii this year !!
DH ( Marco Dinaro – your winner ) and I were REALLY surprised and DELIGHTED this morning when Marco read your email : WOW !!!!!!!!!!!
Only yesterday I had made a post in your blog – I AM ADDICTED TO HAWAII … and today a piece of magic Hawaii arrived here in Milano , Italy !!
Our vacation this last August at Waikiki , North shore and Big Island was a DREAM COME TRUE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and still now we both can feel that ALOHA spirit all around home ; we have so many memories , footages , pictures and small pieces of “Hawaiian art” which remind us of our wonderful days in paradise !!!! ( and we plan to come back as soon as we can !!!)
Today in Milano it’s rainy and cold – as we use to have in October ……… but Hawaii sun is shining for us !!!
Again THANK YOU for the prize and your lovely blog – from which we have learnt a lot in the months before our trip !!!!
MAHALO !!!
And wave ALOHA for us to every whale you’ll watch this Winter !!!
Laura & Marco Dinaro
If you put your ears under water, hold your breath and be very still… You can easily hear the whales sing to each other. It can be an amazingly peaceful and relaxing experience. (Almost spiritual for some people)
@ Marco & Laura – Congratulations on winning the prize! It will be with pleasure that I send the prize package to you in Italy.
@ Dave – thanks for that tip. I can’t wait to try it when I visit again!